Love And Obsession
by Bill K
Summary: Queen Serenity finds that setting up a utopia of peace and prosperity is harder than she imagined, what with Yakuza vendettas and random street violence getting in the way.
1. First Halting Steps

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 1: "First Halting Steps"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2015 by Naoko Takeuchi and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2015 by Bill K.

* * *

The guard at the front door of the Crystal Palace opened the door warily. He was new on the job - - the entire palace security staff was new, though many of them were transfers from the staff that guarded the Prime Minister in the old regime - - and no one was quite certain what constituted a threat in this brand new society. But when he saw it was Minako Aino, disguised in her black wig, on the arm of her current romantic interest, Kyou Byakugou, the guard stepped back to allow them entry. Minako and Kyou, though, lingered at the door.

"I had fun," Minako said, looking up with barely contained arousal at the burly, light-haired young man. "I don't think I've danced that hard in a while."

"When can I see you again?" Kyou asked, his massive arms keeping Minako pinned to his chiseled frame. She traced his strong jaw with her finger.

"I'd like to say tomorrow," Minako replied, her heart fluttering from the sheer physical presence of the man. "But I don't know what my schedule is yet. We're still trying to get this new government running smoothly. And I'm talking to a film producer tomorrow and I don't know how long that will take."

Kyou leaned in to kiss her. Startled, Minako started to pull back. But she could only go so far in the grip of his arms and when he captured her mouth, she shrugged her shoulders and returned the gesture. When they finally parted, Minako looked up at him, breathing heavily. She saw the confident look in his hard, handsome face, his light hair tousled into his eyes, clearly pleased with the situation at the moment.

"The Hell with my schedule," Minako grinned. "Tomorrow it is."

"Pick you up here?" Kyou asked.

"I'll be waiting," Minako rumbled lustily. Only then did Kyou release her. He nodded, pleased with himself, and headed back to Tokyo proper. Minako watched him leave, then dramatically whirled and fell back against the wall, fanning herself with her hand. "Why, I do believe that man has gone and given me the vapors!"

She noticed the guard smiling at her performance. Another fan. Then she noticed Luna staring at the scene curiously.

"What's the matter, Luna?" Minako asked, pushing herself off the wall jauntily. "Haven't you ever seen a girl in LOVE before?"

As she passed, Minako reached down and ruffled the fur on Luna's head, then bounced up the ornate staircase to the second floor living quarters. The gesture only drew a passing scowl from the black cat. She seemed to be preoccupied with other matters. Luna sat at the foot of the staircase for a few moments, lost in thought. Then seized by a notion, she ascended the stairs, leaving the front door guard to wonder if his friends would believe the story when he told it to them.

* * *

On a morning news program, one of the anchors was interviewing Dietman Jinro Takahashi. Though Endymion and Serenity were the acknowledged absolute rulers of Japan, they had kept the Diet in place to continue to legislate the laws of taxation, conduct and governmental procedure. All legislation was subject to review by the King and Queen after passage and could be vetoed without override, a power the two monarchs had yet to exercise. To some, it was business as usual in the legislative body.

"If you look closely, though, the Diet is just a puppet for the monarchy," Takahashi said in response to the anchor's question. "We all have to line up behind the will of Queen Serenity because they can dismiss any piece of legislation that doesn't conform."

"Critics have dismissed your concerns as bitterness and political gamesmanship, Dietman," the anchor responded. "If you find the process so abhorrent, why participate? Many of your fellow Dietmen from both parties resigned in protest when Endymion and Serenity took power."

"I believe in democracy," Takahashi answered. "Someone has to stand in opposition to something that is fundamentally wrong. Investing this much power in one person is a recipe for disaster. Look at the corruption and abuse that affected the country under the rule of the Shogunate. Look at where the country strayed after Emperor Meiji's rule ended: a legacy of militarism and repression. It's dangerous to concentrate power like that. It inevitably leads to something dire without democratic checks and balances."

"Some of those same criticisms were leveled against the old Diet, even with your democratic checks and balances in place."

"I'll grant you that the old system wasn't perfect," Takahashi conceded. "It didn't prevent corruption and abuse, but that abuse was diluted so that the basic human failing of greed or ego wasn't able to negatively effect the entire nation. What many people seem to forget is that Sailor Moon has those human failings as well. Mix those human failings with concentration of power and perhaps you see my concerns. We've already seen her unilateral decisions to suspend due process, appropriate public funds for the maintenance of her palace, her grandiose monument to her own ego, and generally ignore long-standing business relationships this government had in favor of businesses sympathetic to her and her supporters. And unless something is done, it will only get worse."

Just then Makoto entered the room. She saw Jinro Takahashi on the television and her anger rose. Then she noticed her daughter Akiko at her computer, completely ignoring the program. Akiko was just ten years old but already bigger and more broad-shouldered than any girl Makoto could recall seeing, aside from a young girl situated between her own mother and father in the photos in her cherished photo albums.

"Akiko, why do you have the TV on if you're not watching it?" Makoto asked. Her daughter shrugged.

Emitting a sigh of disgust, Makoto walked over and turned the television and Jinro Takahashi off.

* * *

Jiro Motojima was a detective with the Tokyo Metro Police Department. He'd been a detective in the robbery division for nine years. There had been some excitement here and there, but the majority of his time on the force consisted of interviewing complainants and witnesses, researching leads and sorting through criminal files for likely suspects. His brother was a middle manager for Toshiba and their jobs were remarkably similar. He produced defendants for the court system. His brother produced electronics.

Extortion cases fell under Jiro's jurisdiction as well. That was the case he had today. As he approached the tea shop tucked away in a sleepy corner of Chiyoda-Ku, he wondered about the prospect of getting enough evidence to lead to a trial. Too many times extortion cases were "he said/she said" affairs unless the person attempting to extort money was stupid, sloppy or over-confident. Entering the shop, Jiro found the proprietor. He was Masahiro Hirano, eighty-one. The man was withered with age, but still spry enough to maintain the shop with the aid of his fifty-  
three year old daughter Kasumi. Jiro got a hopeful smile from both until he identified himself as a police detective. Then the smiles dimmed. He got that reaction more than he liked.

"I'd like to hear what happened," Jiro asked them.

"We told the officers," Kasumi fussed. "Didn't they make a report?"

"Yes, Hirano-San," Jiro nodded. "I've read the report. I just want to hear it from you, to make sure the report is accurate."

"It was terrible!" Masahiro spoke up bitterly. "No respect! No respect for elders in this generation! No respect for other people! If I'd done that when I was a boy, my father would have knocked me across the room!"

"Yes, Sir," Jiro nodded. "How did they act?"

"They were very business-like at first," Kasumi related. "They came up and said they were from the newly reorganized Ministry of the Treasury."

"Did they show you any identification?" Jiro asked.

"Yes, but I really didn't look at it," Kasumi frowned. "Then they demanded money! They said a new tax on businesses had been instituted by Sailor Moon and it was to be collected immediately!"

"Hoodlums were what they were!" Masahiro added. "They were just like the American soldiers who came in here after World War II when my father ran the shop! Destroying things, pushing my father around!"

"Oto-San, please!" Kasumi hissed.

"Did they make any threats?" Jiro asked. "Was there any physical contact or property destruction, or any verbal attempts at intimidation?"

"Well, when I questioned them about when this new tax had been put into effect, they said that it wasn't healthy to question the government," Kasumi related. She swallowed. "They said that they would close down our business if we didn't pay! Can they do that?"

"Did you get either of their names?" Jiro questioned. Kasumi shook her head. "Did they say when they would be back to collect?"

"No," Kasumi replied. "They hinted that it would be soon. Can they really close us down for not paying? I thought Sailor Moon was supposed to help people!"

"We first have to confirm that these two men are part of the Ministry of the Treasury," Jiro told her. "It very likely is a scam using the new government's authority for intimidation purposes. We'll try to track them down. Meanwhile, if they come back, call the police."

"But," Kasumi ventured anxiously, "what if they really are from the Ministry of the Treasury? Everything is different now that Sailor Moon is Queen."

Jiro didn't have an answer for that. Things were changing, and if you believed critics like Jinro Takahashi, not all for the better.

* * *

When Ami entered the shrine built in the Crystal Tokyo Palace, she found Rei sitting on a bench, staring at nothing in particular. Concerned, for this was a sign of one of several things, the doctor walked over and sat on the bench next to the priest. It was only then that Rei seemed to realize Ami was there. She glanced at her friend, startled for a moment, and in that moment Ami glimpsed some of the terror that being surprised now held for the priest. Rei relaxed immediately, but Ami hadn't imagined what she'd seen.

"Were you having a vision?" Ami asked. Rei clouded over with melancholy.

"No," her friend confessed. Then she sighed. "I just couldn't work up the motivation to move. It's a fine day, but I can't seem to get excited about it."

"Rei," Ami began, mentally choosing her words carefully, "have you given any thought to getting some help? You're showing dangerous signs of clinical depression. I'm growing more and more worried about you. We all are. I understand you want to try to beat this by yourself, but there's no sign of weakness or inadequacy in admitting that you might need help."

"Don't worry, Ami," Rei said softly, her eyes focused on her hands resting on her knees as she sat. "I've decided to try to talk things out. I thought I could do it - - hoped I could do it would probably be more accurate. But it's not working. My sight hasn't returned. I'm not a fit companion for Derek. I'm a burden on all of you. And I just - - don't enjoy life anymore." She exhaled again. "I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and let someone in. It's going to be hard, but it can't be harder than looking at Serenity look at me and know that I'm breaking her heart."

"I'm sorry it took this much pain to lead you to this decision," Ami said, patting Rei on the hand, "but I think you've made the right choice. I've been studying up on depression and post-traumatic stress. While I confess that I'm not a professional, I'll certainly try to do everything I can for you."

Rei looked at Ami in confusion. This confused Ami.

"Um, I was going to talk it out with Makoto," Rei said cautiously.

"Oh," Ami responded, caught off-guard.

"It's nothing personal," Rei assured her. "I'm not denigrating your skill as a doctor. It's just that I've always found it easy to talk to Makoto, to let my guard down and not worry about being judged."

"No, Makoto is an excellent choice," Ami replied quickly. "She possesses a great deal of intuitive wisdom. She relates to people on their own level and reaches very logical, very workable solutions through common sense applications. I-I would trust her implicitly to be sympathetic to your problems and concerns, and to give you sound advice." She grasped Rei's hands. "The important thing is that you get help for your problem. You couldn't be in finer hands than Makoto's."

"Let's hope," Rei replied with a weak smile. "I'm tired of living in a gray world. I want to feel its colors again."

In their quarters in the palace, Hayami was reading a book. When he heard the door slide open and then close, he looked up. His wife, Ami, was at their bookshelf searching for a title. Not finding what she was looking for, Ami sat down at her desk and brought her personal computer online.

"Looking for something?" Hayami asked.

"I'm thinking of expanding my field," Ami replied as she typed. "Getting into psychiatry, perhaps - - at least familiarize myself so that I can, well, practice effectively if the need arose."

Suddenly she stopped and just stared at the screen. Hayami looked at her curiously. Without warning, she turned to him and peered at him over her glasses.

"Hayami," she inquired earnestly. "Do I come across as judgmental?"

* * *

"Going out with 'Kyou' again?" Artemis asked, specifically using the man's first name to show his disrespect.

"Jealous?" Minako asked with a smirk as she expertly applied eyeliner.

"Only if you grow a tail," Artemis shot back. "I'm more concerned with you letting your duties in this new government slide."

"What makes you think I'd do that?" Minako demanded.

"Your entire secondary school career, your younger adult life, your current adult life," Artemis responded. "You are notorious for putting self ahead of obligations."

"It's Kyou-Chan's fault," Minako said, then smiled dreamily. "He brings out the hedonist in me."

"The morning alarm brings out the hedonist in you," Artemis scowled.

"The man is irresistible, Artemis!" Minako protested. "He's so - - primal. Just being in his arms makes me feel more like a woman than almost anything I've ever experienced."

"I thought Toshihiro was better for you," Artemis told her. Minako stopped applying the eyeliner and stared at the mirror. The white cat regretted speaking.

"Toshi was a partner," Minako said soberly. "Kyou is more of an experience. Maybe it won't last. Maybe I'll find a way to screw this up just like I've screwed up every relationship I've ever had." A smile dawned on her lips. "But until then, I'm going to ride this for everything I can get." She grabbed a hairbrush and brandished it like a microphone. "Because he makes me feel like a na-cher-rul . . ."

As Artemis rolled his eyes, Minako senshi communicator went off.

"Hey, Serenity," Minako answered. "S'up?"

"Well," Serenity began haltingly. "Could you come to the Royal Receiving Room, please?"

"Is it important? I kind of got a hot date tonight."

"And normally I wouldn't interfere with something that important," Serenity pleaded, "but - - you really should be here to hear this. Please?"

"I see you're still having trouble with this 'Royal Command' stuff," grinned Minako. "OK, be there in two shakes of a stick."

Artemis grimaced at the malaprop. "That's 'two shakes of a lamb's tail'," he corrected.

"I thought you wanted me to grow a cat's tail," Minako replied. "Man, you are weird, Artemis."

At the Royal Receiving Room in the palace, Minako was met at the door by Serenity. She could see something had the Queen upset.

"What's going on?" Minako inquired.

"Well, Endymion and I were hearing an appeal from, um, someone," Serenity explained haltingly. "You see, he wanted legal charges against him dropped and he hoped that I, well, that Endymion and I, well, would . . ."

"What's the big deal?" Minako asked. "You've already let a few people out of prison that you decided weren't a threat to society. And you've always been real big on forgiveness and second chances. Why do you need me here?"

"Well," Serenity grimaced, "I think you need to talk to him."

Mystified, Minako allowed Serenity to usher her into the room. Standing to one side was Endymion in his pastel gray tuxedo. She turned to the other man in the room. Her breath caught short.

"How nice it is to see you again, Minako," smiled Saijou Takeda, also known as Kaitou Ace.

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. A Blast From The Past

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 2: "A Blast From The Past"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

"Ace," Minako whispered. Everyone could see she was stunned.

"I have come to fulfill my promise, Minako," Ace said soberly. "I vowed that I would return and place that ring on your finger."

The words seemed to break through the stunned silence of the woman. Her eyes grew wide and her nostrils flared with rage. Scooping up a decorative figurine from a table, Minako viciously launched it at Ace. With innate grace, Ace leaned to one side and the figurine whipped past his head, smashing on the wall behind him. Serenity squealed in alarm.

"Perhaps you have made other plans?" Ace observed.

"You have got SOME NERVE slithering back into this city and trying to hook up with me again!" roared Minako. "After what happened last time? You think I'm going to put myself through that again?"

"Mina-chan!" Serenity whimpered.

"Have we gone back to square one?" Ace sighed. "I thought I had proven to you where your heart lies."

"The only think you proved is that the absolute minute I let my guard down around you, you rip my heart into pieces!"

"Do you think it was easy for me?" Ace asked. "I had everything I wanted. That mere heartbeat we spent together was a level of bliss I thought impossible to achieve. Then to have it snatched away from me by the cruelest of circumstances . . ."

"Circumstances?" Minako snapped. "Is that what you call karma catching up with you? You put yourself in that position, Ace, because you've never been able to focus on anything other than what YOU want! Don't try to use that to make me feel sorry for you!"

"The only thing I wish you to feel," Ace replied with controlled tones, "is the love you once felt for me - - the love you still feel for me."

"I've moved on," Minako shot back.

"Yes, Byakugou-San," Ace answered with forced humor. "I shouldn't be surprised that you'd take up with someone like him. Though I would have thought your past would have taught you not to."

"My past?" Minako asked in confusion. "What's that got to do with anything?" It was all Ace could do to keep from laughing.

"You don't see it, do you?" he observed. "You're so caught up in your hormonal tidal wave . . ."

"You don't worry about my waves!" Minako snarled. "And that wouldn't have anything to do with why you're 'suddenly trying to fulfill your promise', would it?"

"If everyone could settle down, please," Endymion interjected, situating himself between the quarreling lovers. "Whether or not you each have the ingredients for a relationship with the other isn't the crown's concern or frankly any of our business. The question before us is whether Saijou Takeda should be granted amnesty from the charge of flight to avoid prosecution."

Endymion took a moment to compose himself while Serenity looked on anxiously.

"Takeda-San has argued that he has not been a danger to society since 2004 and that previous crimes were of a non-violent nature going back to 1992. However, since you know Takeda-San, well, intimately and that his return to society would directly affect you, Serenity and I thought we should consult with you before rendering a decision."

"My opinion?" scowled Minako. She looked Ace directly in the eye. "Lock him up - - and lose the key."

"I'll only escape again," Ace replied with one eyebrow cocked.

"If you do, then you'd better run," Minako shot back venomously, "and keep running."

And she walked dramatically out of the room.

* * *

"You're certain of it?" Artemis asked. He and Luna were perched on the back of a sofa in Minako's palace quarters, at a respectable distance.

That was at Luna's insistence.

"Well, no, Artemis, I'm not certain of it," the black cat replied, her brow furrowed. "It isn't a specific resemblance; more of a - - general impression. The way he moves, the way he acts, the fall of his hair at his shoulders."

"Should I be jealous of him?" Artemis inquired. Luna was confused for a moment, but the way the white cat had his brows raised communicated his implication.

"You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Luna scowled. "Kakeru was a fine man and I feel no shame in my feelings for him."

"It was just a joke," Artemis replied, turning to hide his scowl. An awkward silence developed between them.

But the silence was interrupted when the door to the quarters slid open and a decorative vase hurled across the room, scattering the cats as it shattered against a coffee table next to the sofa.

"Mina!" bellowed Artemis, seeing Minako standing by the front door in a seething rage. "Warn me when you're going to rampage!"

"Gracious! Is she always like this?" Luna gasped.

"Only when she's pissed," Artemis replied.

"Artemis," Luna sighed. "Language!"

"I WISH I KNEW WHAT GOD I PISSED OFF!" roared Minako.

"Now I see where you get it," Luna scowled. "Do you need assistance with this?"

"No, I've been handling it for years," sighed Artemis.

"Then I'll toddle off," Luna told him. "This doesn't seem to be the proper atmosphere to continue - - what we were talking about." And Luna scampered for the exit.

By now, Minako was sitting in a Queen Anne armchair that she'd salvaged from the remains of her apartment. Her arms were folded over her chest and she was glaring at the opposite wall. Artemis perched on the back of the chair and leaned in.

"What happened?" he sighed.

"Ace - happened!" Minako rumbled.

"That explains it," Artemis remarked. "He's here in Tokyo? You saw him?"

"He was with Endymion and Serenity," Minako fumed. "Petitioning for CLEMENCY for his charges." She ground her teeth. "Apparently he heard I was happy again!"

"They didn't grant it, did they?"

"Didn't hang around to find out," huffed Minako. "The air in there suddenly wasn't breathable."

"Mina, don't get worked up about it."

"Why not? You know what he's done to me! Why shouldn't I get worked up? Why shouldn't I go over there and give him a 'Love and Beauty Shock' right between his eyes?"

"Because when you get worked up, you don't think. And when you don't think, your hormones take over." Artemis shook his head. "If that happens, you'll probably end up in bed with him again."

"Not this time," Minako proclaimed. "I've got the perfect antidote for a case of Ace. Kyou is so hot that he can make me forget my own name." She turned and glanced up at Artemis on the chair back. "That's why he came back, you know. He's got competition and it's got him scared! So he thinks he can just show up and snap his fingers and I'll jump into bed with him. Well not this time."

Artemis wanted to believe her, wanted to believe that she'd finally taken the cure for Ace. But the fact that she was absently rubbing her breastbone as she spoke make him skeptical.

And then there were the possible implications of a romance with Kyou Byakugou.

* * *

Wataru Okashima was chief of detectives in Chiyoda-Ku. He was a twenty-one year veteran of the force and chief for eight years. He'd dealt with robberies, burglaries, extortion, rape, and murder. He'd investigated Yakuza thugs, high school gang bangers and corporation middle managers who had tried to embezzle funds from their company to support their substance abuse habit or their mistress or just because they thought they were smart enough to get away with it. He'd even dealt with the fallout from invasions from beings from space, eerie circuses and scientists stealing people's heart crystals. Nothing threw him because he'd seen just about every possible human deed, good and bad.

But this threw him. Endymion and Serenity would, he thought, be a good thing for Japan. However, they seemed almost to be making up the rules as they went along. Everything was business as usual, except when they decided it wasn't. Like when Yoshiki Moroboshi was imprisoned without a trial. Or when they released people from prison that they deemed non-violent or no longer threats to society. Rules were important to Okashima. He'd been enforcing the rules for twenty-one years. He'd lived them even longer. But if the rules kept changing . . .?

Maybe Jinru Takahashi was right.

A knock on his door brought Okashima out of his reverie. It was Detective Motojima. Okashima waved him in. Motojima looked like he had something important.

"Statistics came up with this, Okashima-Sempai," the detective said, handing a report to the chief. "Nobody noticed at first because they were all from cases assigned to different detectives. But I think we've got an organized scam going."

Okashima skimmed the report. The gist of it said small businesses were reporting being visited by strangers. Sometimes the strangers were claiming to be from the Ministry of Taxation, collecting for a new tax on businesses imposed unilaterally by King Endymion and Queen Serenity. Others made no claim at all. The common theme was verbal and sometimes physical intimidation of the shop personnel.

"You run this by Ministry of Taxation?" Okashima asked.

"First time their name came up," Motojima nodded. "They don't know anything about it. Of course, the Crystal Palace may not have felt it necessary to inform anyone, you know?"

Okashima certainly had been put off by the manner in which the Crystal Palace was operating, but that didn't preclude the idea of cheats using their name to give a scam an air of legitimacy.

"Contacted the Crystal Palace, too," Motojima continued. "The person I talked to sounded pretty huffy - - said the idea was ridiculous." He paused, thinking. "Sounded foreign, too. Like she was from England."

"Doesn't seem to follow that the King and Queen would try a penny-ante dodge like this when they basically control the country's treasury," Okashima reasoned. "Probably some grifter trying to capitalize on Sailor Moon's reputation. Anyone pay out?"

"A few - - that we know about," the detective responded. "But you have to figure that for every one who came forward, there's probably ten who didn't."

"Anyone injured?"

"Yeah, and that's the odd part. The places hit were an antique shop, a pachinko parlor and an internet café. No demands for payment. The guys just came in and started busting up the place. Put the pachinko parlor operator in the hospital with a real bad beating."

"The pachinko parlor incident," Okashima asked. "We're certain that's not some Yakuza turf war?"

"Same descriptions of the perps as we got from the internet café and the antique shop," Motojima shook his head. "It may be two different sets of grifters. We'll know more if they come back looking for a payoff. Forensics is working on the surveillance footage from the internet café."

"I'll put a couple more detectives on the case," Okashima said. "See if we can run this down fast. This country has seen enough turmoil the past couple of months. I don't want false word spreading that we can't trust our brand new King and Queen."

Motojima nodded and left. Okashima rubbed his chin.

"And I want to know as soon as possible if we can't," he mumbled to himself.

* * *

" _Thank you for doing this, Princess Minako," Princess Usagi said. She held Minako's hands while she spoke and the earnest gratitude in Usagi's face made her feel a little special._

 _And a little guilty, because she wasn't exactly helping Usagi out of altruism. As Princess Usagi scampered along the shadowy side of the Earth Kingdom temple, blindly seeking out her love, Minako looked around. She was searching for anyone who might reveal their presence on Earth, for members of the Moon Kingdom were not always welcome on this world. But she was also searching for a particular Earth man. It was why she had helped Princess Usagi defy the edict of her mother, Queen Serenity, and come to Earth in the first place._

 _As she inched along the shadows, up ahead she spotted Usagi fall into the arms of Prince Endymion of Earth. Minako smiled. Seeing them together washed away any lingering doubts about whether she had done the right thing in helping Usagi. Princess Ami, Princess Rei and Princess Makoto had all cautioned Usagi against risking her safety to see Endymion. Only Minako had been willing to help, because she knew Usagi would have gone anyway - - and because she recalled how right it looked and felt when she saw the two in each other's arms._

 _Without warning, a hand locked around Minako's right wrist. Effortlessly she was spun around and pulled up against a muscular, rock-hard chest. Hands were around both of her wrists now, holding her in place with a grip that she could never hope to break. Minako looked up into the face of the man holding her, her breath caught in her throat._

" _What do you think you're doing, sneaking around in the shadows?" he asked. It was Kunzite, Endymion's best friend and right hand man._

 _Minako gave him an amorous grin. "Looking for you," she replied with a cocked eyebrow._

 _Kunzite leaned in and captured her mouth with his, as if it were his to take. Sighing through her nose, Minako arched up against him and kissed back hungrily. Yes, Kunzite assumed liberties that no other man would dare take in her presence, given her station. But Minako let them pass because he made her feel so good._

" _Oh, how I've missed that," Minako sighed when their lips parted._

" _You shouldn't have come," Kunzite said, nuzzling her neck as he locked his arms around her. "It's dangerous - - dangerous for you both."_

" _The Princess couldn't stay away any longer," Minako whispered as she ran her hands up and down Kunzite's strong back. "She wouldn't be denied. So I came to protect her."_

" _Is that the only reason?" Kunzite asked breathlessly, his mouth a mere inch from hers and his eyelids heavy over his eyes._

" _Whatever do you mean?" Minako teased. "What other reason could I have?"_

 _They embraced once again. Minako felt herself crushed to Kunzite's manly frame. Finally they came up for air._

" _That's a good reason!" giggled the Princess of Venus._

 _To her dismay, Kunzite released her hold around her torso, though he kept one hand pressed possessively on her hip. His step forward turned her around and she could see he was warily scanning the night. Endymion and Usagi were by the entrance to the temple, intimately talking._

" _Did you see something?" Minako asked._

" _No," Kunzite said, maintaining his vigil. "But we must be wary. Enemies could be anywhere."_

" _Kunzite," Minako smiled. "You see enemies everywhere."_

" _This doesn't mean that there aren't enemies everywhere," Kunzite replied. He glanced at her and smiled. "Vigilance is the way of a warrior. Perhaps a Princess wouldn't know this."_

" _Warrior Princess," Minako corrected him wryly. "I'm not the faint-hearted flower you make me out to be." She smirked. "I bet I could take you."_

" _You insult me," Kunzite smirked back. "Though it would be a," and he quickly surveyed her body, "most interesting contest." He grew sober. "However, duty demands that we must forgo such things. I am charged with protecting my prince and that must take precedence over all else." He flashed her another naughty smirk. "Reluctantly."_

" _Lucky for you that you said that," Minako told him with a cocked eyebrow._

 _The hours passed. Usagi and Endymion enjoyed each other's company. Kunzite and Minako stood guard and watched for anyone who might harm or betray this clandestine meeting. Occasionally Minako would put her hand on Kunzite's bottom. Twice he gently pushed it away. The third time he bent her thumb back. Minako pouted peevishly until she felt his hand pat her on her bottom. That pulled her out of her sulk. Finally, though, the moon was forced to surrender to the coming day._

" _Princess," Minako ventured, approaching the couple. "Dawn approaches. We have to get back."_

 _Usagi's chest heaved. "If only it could last forever," she sighed. Endymion's hand cupped her chin._

" _Some day it will," he told her. Then he leaned in for a last kiss of the evening. As he_ _did, Minako felt Kunzite gently turn her to him._

" _My prince speaks for us as well, Princess," Kunzite said._

" _Does he?" Minako asked, melancholy affecting her buoyant mood. "Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever know lasting happiness."_

 _Kunzite leaned in and kissed her._

" _A warrior knows that every day may be his last," he said, his white hair blowing into his eyes. "I don't wonder about the future. I live for the now. And I have lived more on this night than I have in my previous lifetime."_

" _And it could have been even better," Minako leered, "if you weren't so stuck on 'duty'."_

 _Kunzite smiled. "How could I have ever fallen for such an undisciplined Princess such as you?"_

" _Just lucky, I guess," Minako smirked._

 _Then she joined hands with Princess Usagi and the pair stole off into the waning night for the jump point back to the Moon Kingdom._

* * *

Artemis turned from his perch atop Minako's dresser where he had been sleeping. Minako was sitting up in bed, her hair disheveled and falling in her eyes, one strap of her nightie fallen over her shoulder and down her arm. She was staring, confused, at nothing in particular.

"Mina?" he asked curiously.

"Hey, Fuzzy," Minako responded distantly. "I just had the strangest dream."

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. Upping The Ante

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 3: "Upping The Ante"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

On a busy street in the Minato-Ku retail district, shoppers were briskly walking from place to place, filling their Sunday with normal, old fashioned consumerism. The retail district was still dotted with empty lots that used to hold buildings with stores in them. There were even more empty lots where buildings were going up to replace the ones destroyed or deemed unsafe and demolished. But there were enough businesses still open to supply the needs of the Japanese people.

And they had needs. Food and clothing were in reasonable supply and most people still had trees and gardens in their yards, thanks to Queen Serenity. But furnishings and electronics were in short supply due to demand and every new shipment was gone almost as fast as it arrived. It caused some grumbling among retailers and suppliers when the new monarchy forbid raising prices in response to the increased demand. But costs to manufacturers for raw materials had been frozen as well, so the grumbling was dismissed as avarice. Imported goods were unavailable and due to the world still recovering weren't going to be back anytime soon. Enterprising Japanese businessmen quickly moved in to supply domestic knock-offs of items imported from China, India, Australia and the United States and they were gobbled up.

Miyoshi Suzuki was walking down the street, the hand of her seven year old daughter in one hand and the hand of her five year old son in the other. The family had lived a hard life for the past two months waiting for the father to be recalled to the computer distribution warehouse where he worked. The warehouse had been only recently opened after repairs to its roof. During that wait, the family had struggled. Half of their furniture had been crushed when their home collapsed. Everyone survived, and Queen Serenity had rebuilt their home and provided them with food. But they slept on the floor. There was no utilities for two weeks. The home computer was gone, as was the television and their collection of books for the children. Miyoshi had home-schooled her children for six weeks until their school could be reopened. Now, armed with a line of credit extended to every household in Japan, backed by the monarchy, Miyoshi was going to replace some of their furnishings and get her family out of the eighteenth century - - if it killed her.

As they walked, Miyoshi heard the peal of a motorcycle. It wasn't an unusual noise in Minato-Ku. Few noises outside of crickets seemed to be anymore. At first she thought nothing of it. But she noticed the sound getting louder, like the motorcycle was running up her back.

Turning, she saw two young men on a compact motorcycle - - a Kawasaki Ninja 250R, though she had no way of knowing that. The motorcycle was roaring down the sidewalk, the passenger swinging a baseball bat at pedestrians. Eleven people unable to get out of the way were laying on the sidewalk in bloody heaps. The motorcycle and the two young men, bearing the stereotypical look of gang hoods, were almost upon her.

Desperately Miyoshi yanked her son out of the cycle's path. Then she felt the hard impact of the bat against her skull and everything went black for a moment. The next thing she knew, she was impacting with the concrete of the sidewalk, her head bouncing off the unforgiving surface.

"There's no more rules!" she heard one of the youths yell over the roar of their bike and the screams of her daughter. "And you can thank Sailor Moon!"

And the last thought Miyoshi Suzuki had on this mortal Earth was - - that wasn't right.

* * *

Minako Aino sat in the palace cafeteria eating lunch. She ate there because she figured why go to the trouble of preparing it yourself if someone else will do it and give it to you free. And they were probably better at it than she was anyway. Some of the other people eating there, all new hires recruited to staff and maintain the elaborate palace that was her new home pointed and whispered about the presence of a famous idol eating lunch with them. Minako was used to such behavior.

And she barely noticed it anyway. She was still puzzling over the dream she'd had about her being romantically involved with Kunzite of the Dark Kingdom.

When she'd related the dream to Artemis that morning, he'd explained to her that Minako, in her previous life as Princess of Venus, had engaged in a clandestine affair with Kunzite, who was then a General under Endymion, Prince of Earth. When pressed for details, Artemis referred her to Luna, as he barely remembered the time and the affair.

He'd also mentioned one other thing that disturbed her: Luna had mentioned that Kyou bore a resemblance to Kunzite. So was the dream actually a dream, or a memory? And either way, why now? What triggered it? Was it Kyou? Had she subconsciously recognized Kyou's resemblance and her subconscious fed her the dream? Or the memory?

Or was Ace hiding behind this? She wouldn't put it past him, even though she wasn't certain how even he could pull something like this off.

"May I sit down?"

Minako looked up and found Serenity leaning over her.

"It's your place," she shrugged, gesturing to a seat. "Had lunch yet?"

"Yes, but you know that's not going to stop me," Serenity grinned and plucked a broccoli floret off of Minako's salad. Then she sobered. "Endymion and I denied Ace's request." And she nibbled on the broccoli.

"Thanks," Minako sighed. She glanced over at Serenity. "Doesn't that fly in the face of 'love thy neighbor' and 'forgiveness leads to redemption'?"

"I know how he makes you feel," Serenity explained. "I know how - - disruptive - - he can be for you. I didn't want you to go through that."

Minako nodded.

"I can reverse the decision if you want me to," Serenity offered. "I know you love him."

"No, I'm better off with him out of my life," Minako said. "Assuming he's out of my life. Just because he's a wanted criminal doesn't mean he'll take the hint and hit the road. Ace has this aversion to doing what's expected of him. Probably comes from his days serving under Kunzite." She grinned momentarily. "Or he's just a rat."

Suddenly Minako looked at Serenity with a seriousness unusual for her. Serenity was momentarily startled by her intensity.

"Serenity," Minako began, "do you remember anything from when we were in the Moon Kingdom?"

"Bits and pieces," Serenity replied. She seemed to grow haunted. "I remember the attack Queen Beryl led. All of the destruction. All of the death." She swallowed. "I wish I could forget that."

"Do you remember you and me sneaking down to Earth from the Moon Kingdom so you could meet Endymion in secret?"

Serenity pondered this. "No. Luna says I did and she'd know. But I don't remember it." Serenity smiled warmly. "I do remember Endymion sneaking into a ball we had at the palace on the Moon. I remember us dancing. I remember thinking as we danced that I was utterly in love with him - - that being in his arms was the definition of contentment - - that I wanted to have this man's baby." The Queen colored. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

"That's OK," smirked Minako. "I've had those thoughts a few times myself. Cold water in the face usually snaps me out of it."

"Why do you ask?" Serenity inquired.

"Just," Minako said hesitantly, "trying to sort out a few things. Separate fact from fiction - - truth from lies."

Minako went back to eating. Serenity just watched, sensing that her friend was troubled and wishing she could help.

* * *

The phone rang in the mansion of Yoshiki and Shiho Morobishi. After three rings, a thick, rough hand grasped the phone and brought it up to an ear. Gruffly the man, a large, well-armed man in a black suit, identified the location.

"I want to talk to Morobishi-San," the voice on the phone said.

"Who is this?" the man asked while his partner, equally large and equally armed, looked on.

"Her consultant," the voice replied. "It's concerning a business deal I'm helping her with."

The guard put the phone down and entered the living room where Shiho Morobishi was entertaining her son, Kakeru, and his girlfriend, Kazuha. The guard leaned in and whispered a message to the woman.

"I have business to attend to," Shiho told the two teens. "I'll let you get on with your plans. It was so nice to meet you, Kazuha-Chan. Please feel free to visit at any time."

Everyone bowed and then Shiho, dwarfed by the guard, adjourned to the office that had once been her husband's. She sat at his desk and picked up the phone.

"Takahashi-San," Shiho said, specifically naming her caller for the recording she was making of the call. "You honor me with your call. How may I be of service?"

"Don't you think your people are going a little too far?" the voice on the line asked.

"Wasn't that what you wished?" Shiho replied calmly. "That Sailor Moon be shown as an incompetent ruler, unable to stem a rise in crime and lawless anarchy?"

"We want her discredited," the voice agreed. "But we wanted to keep a low profile as well. The attack in Minato-Ku and the assaults on the shopkeepers are hardly low profile."

"This is a curious protest coming from the man who conspired to assassinate the ruler of the country."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the caller protested. "The person who did that miscalculated that ruler's resources. Besides, that was an action against a single person, not an entire country. What if this gets back to us?"

"I've been careful to use street punks hoping to join the Yakuza," Shiho responded. "They're sufficiently violent and willing to follow orders. And if they're caught, who would believe them if they implicated my organization? If you fear discovery that badly . . ."

"There are six people dead and twenty more in the hospital! Innocent people, people who could have been turned to our way of thinking! You just don't throw away potential supporters like that! It wasn't part of the plan!"

"Well I've decided that there's a new plan!" Shiho informed him. "Sailor Moon changed the rules when she put my husband in prison without a trial! Since she's decided that she can change the rules of the game as it suits her, then I've exercised that right, too!"

"Morobishi-San, this is not a smart way to go," the voice warned her. "Taking on Queen Serenity and her senshi AND her police force is a losing proposition. Driving her to resign in disgrace is much safer and more effective . . ."

"Safer for WHO?" snorted Shiho. "My organization takes all of the risk while you hide in the shadows and protect your reputation! My husband sits in prison while you walk free and enjoy the fruits of that position and the prestige that goes with it! No, from now on we do things my way. I will see Sailor Moon fall or the streets of Tokyo will run red! I will topple her from her throne if I have to climb a mountain of bodies to get to her! I will see my husband free - - and I will see Sailor Moon DEAD!"

There was silence on the line for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," the voice on the phone replied. "Consider our partnership dissolved. I can't stop you from destroying yourself, but I won't let you destroy me along with you."

Shiho leaned back in her husband's chair.

"In all the years you dealt with the Yakuza," she said calmly, "did you never learn that agreements are bonds that cannot be broken with just words? You are involved in this, Dietman Takahashi, whether you like it or not. Leaving is not an option. Or would you like Sailor Moon to learn just who was my husband's co-conspirator in the attempt on her life?"

"One thing I did learn in my years dealing with the Yakuza," the voice replied, just as calmly, "is the dishonor of informing. As a loyal Yakuza wife, I'm surprised you forgot that."

Shiho scowled. "You're right. I can't very well violate the code and dishonor the name of my husband and his organization." There was a moment of silence. "Perhaps I'll just have you killed. After all, you're a much easier target than Sailor Moon."

The receiver slid from her hand and landed in the cradle of the phone. Shiho Moroboshi contemplated the conversation she'd just had with a look of contempt and disgust on her face.

* * *

Minako sat at her makeup table, the single piece of furniture she felt was her most important salvage from her old apartment, and applied shadow to her eyelids with a practiced hand. She might not be a whiz in the kitchen, but she was at the top of her game when it came to making herself appealing, whether to the public in general or to someone in particular.

"Going out with Kyou?" Artemis asked, landing on the edge of the table.

"Who else?" Minako replied, her focus on her image in the mirror as she blended the shadow.

"The possibility existed that you were giving in to your obsession . . ."

"Don't say it," Minako warned the cat. "I'm not going to give in to him. His showing up here was just another pathetic attempt to break up my latest attempt to move on from him."

"You know me too well."

Minako looked into the mirror and over her right shoulder stood Ace. And he was smirking just like he always did when he wanted her to think he knew more than she did.

"How did you get in here?" demanded Artemis.

"Do you really wish to know?" Ace asked lightly. "The details are quite boring."

"Well you might as well turn around and leave the same way," Minako frowned. "I've got a hot date tonight and it's NOT with you!"

"Can I first say that you look as exquisite now as you did twenty-three years ago?" Ace requested. "It seems like you haven't aged a day."

"Get out," sighed Minako.

"In fact you even seem unchanged from the days of Silver Millennium," Ace added.

And Minako jumped to her feet with a start. She turned to him, her eyes wide and boring holes in him.

"Why did you say that?" she asked. "Do you know about the dream?"

"One hears things," Ace replied in a non-committal fashion.

"Then you are behind it!"

"Am I?"

"Yes! It's another one of your mind games! Another way for you to confuse me so you can lure me into the sack! Trying to make me think Kyou was Kunzite reincarnated!"

"And how did I accomplish this?" Ace asked. "If I still had access to the mind-altering technology of the Dark Kingdom, as I did as Danburite, it would be a simple affair. But you and your Princess and your friends destroyed all of that tech decades ago."

"You must have rebuilt it," Minako charged.

"Or," Ace suggested, "the dream was your subconscious warning you not to repeat a mistake you made a millennium ago. Kunzite-Sama was wrong for you then, and he's wrong for you now."

"Kyou is not Kunzite!" argued Minako.

"No. Kunzite-Sama perished at the hands of Sailor Moon," Ace nodded, then added with a grin, "At least I assume he did. But this 'Kyou' does resemble him. Yes, I've studied him. I make it a point to know everything I can about any man you take up with."

"So Ace, are you familiar with the term 'unhealthy obsession'?" Minako eyed him warily.

At once Ace was in front of her, inside her personal space - - intimately close. Her breath caught in her chest.

"An obsession I will readily admit to," he smiled, gazing imposingly into her eyes. "How unhealthy it might be I will leave to others to determine. I only care about you."

Minako's heart thudded in her chest. She was feeling old, familiar urges again, urges that always seemed to come out whenever Ace was this close to her. His scent filled her. His radiant aura sent her skin tingling. Ace did nothing, waiting for her surrender rather than force his will upon her. For her part, Minako wanted to reassert control, to tell him 'no'.

But she couldn't.

"I'm," Minako choked out, "I've - - already got a date - - w-with Kyou." She slid away and walked to the door. "So go work your voodoo somewhere else."

Ace walked over to the door, but stopped when he was within reach of her. His hand came up and lightly gripped her upper arm.

"You still love me," he told her, "no matter how much you try to deny it."

"I love chocolate, too," Minako said soberly, some of the past hurt seeping through the mask. "But it's still bad for me."

His hand dropped away from her arm.

"Now leave me alone," Minako told him. "And you leave Kyou alone, too. I don't want you going after him the way you went after Toshi! Because if you do, I will hunt you down and I will grind you into a fine paste!"

"I've always adored your romantic side," Ace smiled back at her. He casually exited the room, Minako slamming the door shut with such force that she dislodged it from its runner track.

Turning, she took several deep breaths and tried to will herself to calm. It was an acting trick she'd learned, but it worked in real life, too. She returned to her makeup table.

"You're getting better, Mina," Artemis offered. "I thought he had you there for a minute."

"I thought he had me there for a minute, too," Minako responded. She looked at the hand holding her eyeliner brush. It was shaking.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. Minako's Heart

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 4: "Minako's Heart"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Dining at one of the local restaurants lucky enough to be reopen following the ice disaster that befell the world, Minako watched Kyou eat. He was voracious, befitting a man of his size. Kyou was a big guy, reminiscent of Makoto's mountain of a husband, but a lot more chiseled. And he had a mountainous appetite.

But that wasn't why she was staring. Ace had told her that Kyou resembled Kunzite. Artemis had said the same thing, repeating what Luna had told him. But at the moment, she just couldn't see it. Sure, the long, light hair and the broad shoulders had a passing resemblance to the Dark Kingdom General.

And maybe that was it. Other than the dream, her only memories of Kunzite was of a cruel, domineering fanatic trying to obtain the Imperium Silver Crystal and secretly hoping he could slaughter the Senshi in the process. That was nothing like this proud, simple construction worker with a playful nature and a smoking body.

"Don't like your meal?" Kyou asked. Minako shook herself and gave him a questioning look. "You haven't eaten much."

"Trying to watch my figure," Minako alibied. "Studio sounded me out about doing a picture once they're back on their feet."

"Tell you what," he said with jaunty confidence. "You eat and I'll watch your figure."

Some women would have rolled their eyes to such a statement. A few might have even taken umbrage. But that was cream for Minako's ego and as she took a bite of her meal, Kyou could see her glowing. But he could see more.

"Something bothering you?" he asked.

"I'll be OK," Minako assured him.

"No, I want to know," Kyou persisted, for he seemed to have a habit of not taking no for an answer. "I want to help, if I can. I don't like seeing you distracted and down."

What to tell him? She didn't want to bring up Ace. She didn't want Ace to come between her and yet another man. She didn't want the specter of Ace to haunt yet another relationship. But a lack of honesty and candor had cost her with Toshihiro. Could she risk that again?

"Trouble with your ex?" Kyou asked.

Minako looked at him in shock. Did he know about Ace?

"You know, that TV director you told me about."

Minako's heart started beating again. "Toshi? No." Minako sobered. "Toshi doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Is it somebody else?" Kyou asked. He wouldn't stop digging.

Minako sighed. "I - - guess - - you know how Toshi and I broke up," Minako began. "It was in all the papers, damn their nosy little hides."

"Yeah, that Movie Producer," Kyou nodded. "The one that got arrested. Is he bothering you?"

"He," Minako began, mentally grimacing, "wants to take up where we left off."

"Want me to go talk to him?"

Minako gaped at Kyou. He was completely serious. And suddenly a little menacing.

"As adorable as that offer is," Minako smiled, "it could get you thrown in the klink." Her hand slithered out from under his and rested on top of it. "I kind of like you where I can see you more often than visiting days. Besides, I am Sailor Venus and I am capable of taking care of myself."

"I suppose," Kyou replied, his mood muted. "But a man's not a man if he can't protect his - - um, people who mean a lot to him."

"That's not what you were going to saaaayyy," giggled Minako.

"Seriously," Kyou continued intently. "I would do it. I would protect you from this - - producer, even if it meant going to prison."

Realizing she couldn't joke him out of this state of mind, Minako let the matter drop. She'd experienced intense people like this before, usually in creative fields like movie or record production, and knew it was pointless to try to get them to modify a core belief.

And now that she thought of it - - Kunzite was one of those types.

* * *

 _Running was a difficult task at night, particularly when running in strange territory. Particularly in a yellow gown and bare feet._

 _Particularly when a mob was chasing you. But Princess Venus ignored the calls to catch and kill her, or worse, as well as the pain in her feet, the tree limbs clutching at her gown, the weight of the high-heeled slippers in her hand and the burning in her lungs. Instead she concentrated on getting away. She had to get away before the mob caught her and did something they would regret._

 _And something she would really regret._

 _It had started all so differently. Venus had slipped away from the Moon Kingdom again and transported down to Earth to see Kunzite. She had sat in the Moon Kingdom and longed for him until she couldn't stand it any longer and slipped away. Impulsive? Perhaps. Lacking in discipline? Of course. These were traits her father and especially her long-suffering mother had ascribed to her long ago. Her view had always been why make your parents out to be liars? So she left, seeking Kunzite and a dash of pleasure to tide her through her otherwise Kunzite-less life._

 _But she had been careless and appeared before a group of fishermen. They were like most Earth people of the time: Uneducated, superstitious, wary of outsiders. Their first reaction was fear, for Earth people didn't possess the ability to transport, save for Prince Endymion. Venus thought it best to retreat and hope that they didn't raise an alarm. It had the opposite effect._

" _She must be one of those moon people!" gasped one of the fishermen, a burly, grubby, coarse man who looked twenty years older than he was._

" _The ones Beryl the witch woman talks about?" asked another._

" _Yes," spoke up a third. He was equally coarse and grubby, but he was different from the other two. He wasn't awed by her appearance. He was emboldened. Whether it was from the lies Beryl had told him - - Venus and the others had heard stories of Beryl trying to turn the Earth people against them - - or from Venus's lack of aggression, he wasn't afraid of her. "The ones who think they're better than we are. The ones trying to enslave us."_

" _Maybe we should show her that Earth men aren't pushovers," muttered a fourth, an_ _unsettling leer in his eyes._

" _Send her back to the Moon with her throat cut!" the first one said, his fear gone and replaced by aggression._

" _Now hold on. I'm just passing through," Princess Venus said, trying to mollify them. "I don't mean anybody any harm. Don't believe everything you've heard!"_

" _Send her back with her pretty face bruised and bloody," rumbled the second fisherman._

" _Or with an Earth baby in her belly," the third said with an evil grin._

 _Upon the first sign of advancement from them, Venus cut and ran. She could have fought them and triumphed easily with her golden Venus energy. But she didn't want to hurt them. And she didn't want word getting around that a member of the Moon Kingdom lashed out at Earth people, perhaps killing one or more of them. That would lend strength to Beryl's lies. And it might cause Princess Usagi to look down on her. It might even cause a rift between her and Kunzite._

 _So she ran. At the first chance, Venus doffed her slippers, then doubled back, hoping to lose the men. Unfortunately, the further away from the temple she got, the less familiar the terrain was. The fact that it was night didn't help. If she could find her way back to the temple, she could use the portal to transport back to the Moon. Several times she got near, but one of the mob would spot her and she would have to veer away out of self-preservation._

 _Finally she ended up in a dead end, trapped between a thick grove of trees and a tall bluff too sheer to scale. The mob had her boxed in and were advancing on her. Her back pressed against the bluff, her gown torn and her blonde hair strewn in her face, Venus willed her hands to glow with golden energy._

" _It's not too late to call this off," she told them, trying to quell the quaver in her voice. "I don't want to hurt you."_

" _Just do what we tell you," the third fisherman said, his leer a mask of corruption and violence, "and we won't hurt you."_

 _Suddenly there was a flash of silver. The third fisherman's head bounced twice and landed at the feet of Princess Venus. A wave of surprise and horror passed through everyone, allowing a blur of a white cloak to burst through the mob. The owner placed himself between Venus and the mob, brandished a sword and glared at them._

" _Jackals!" Kunzite snarled. "Make peace with your gods!"_

" _You defend her?" howled one of the fishermen. "She is a Moon person! They seek to enslave us!"_

" _Something you need never fear!" Kunzite replied._

 _One of the fishermen made a single move forward. Kunzite sprang at him and opened his chest and bowls with a single stroke. The other two men turned and tried to run, but he was on them like an attacking cheetah. Moments later Kunzite stepped between four bleeding corpses up to Venus. He grasped her gently and caressed her cheek._

" _Did they hurt you?" he asked, emotion stealing his voice._

" _No," Venus replied. Tears were welling in her eyes. "Did you have to kill them all? Even the ones who were running?"_

" _An enemy that lives is a waiting battle," Kunzite replied with a surety of gospel. "The dead can threaten no one."_

" _But they were Earth men," Venus persisted. "Like you."_

" _They threatened you," Kunzite told her with the intensity of a lightning strike. "None_ _who threaten you are my kin."_

 _Kunzite folded his arms around her and held her against his chest. Venus accepted the embrace gratefully. Kunzite's intensity was so very arousing._

 _And at the same time, part of her feared it._

* * *

One eye opened. Minako took a moment to register that she was in her bed, in her bedroom. She sighed and blew a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"I wish I could set the TiVo in my head to record a different dream," she muttered. From her dresser, Artemis raised his head and looked at her curiously.

* * *

"You're up early," Artemis commented when he saw Minako at her makeup table. "Usually you don't get up until the sun is warm in the sky - - except when you've got an appointment."

"Got an appointment," Minako mumbled, concentrating on her eyeliner.

"I thought the film producers were Friday."

"Sakurada," Minako told him. Artemis raised an eyebrow. "I want to tell her Ace is back in town. She was pretty put out when I didn't tell her about him last time. I don't want to do that to her again. She's too good of a friend - - and too good of a cop."

Passed through to the inner workings of the main headquarters of the police department, Minako, in full disguise of black wig and dark glasses, knocked on the door of Superintendent General Natsuna Sakurada's office.

"V-Chan!" Sakurada exclaimed. Coming out from behind her desk, Sakurada gave the woman a crushing bear hug. "Is the movie deal final yet?"

"How do you find these things out?" Minako asked incredulously.

"I have sources," Sakurada smiled. Then she sobered and returned to her desk. "Were you here about the crime wave? I can't imagine Queen Serenity's too happy about it."

"Crime wave? There's a crime wave?"

"Didn't you know? It's been on all the news programs."

"That explains why I didn't know," Minako quipped, taking a seat across from Sakurada. "What's shaking?"

"There's been an upsurge in random assaults, robberies, extortion, rape," Sakurada responded, suddenly sounding weary. "But it's just in the violent crimes that we're seeing a sudden increase."

"Like it might be coordinated to achieve some goal," mused Minako. "Any leads?"

"A few of the perpetrators who we caught say they were encouraged to rampage through the city," Sakurada related. "Given money or weapons as inducements and encouraged to be as violent as possible. And they were encouraged to mention Sailor Moon specifically during their sprees."

"Must be the goal," Minako frowned. "Make Serenity look bad."

"Or draw her out so another attempt can be made on her," Sakurada suggested. Minako gave her a fearful look. "All of the people we caught are delinquents and small time criminals. Nothing ties them to the Morobishi Clan. But the Morobishi Clan would be the logical suspects if this is an attempt to draw Queen Serenity into the open for another assassination attempt."

"Yeah," Minako nodded. "OK, I'll let Endymion and Serenity know. Maybe me and the other senshi can scare up some more information, or even a few suspects. Um, that is if you haven't already told her."

"I was just about to when you dropped by," Sakurada replied. "I hate to admit needing help, but there are already fourteen people dead and dozens more injured by this wave and the force is swamped. Any help the senshi give us might just save a life."

"We'll get right on it," Minako nodded thoughtfully.

"So," Sakurada began, "if you didn't know about the crime wave, why did you drop by to visit?"

"Hmm? Oh," Minako responded. "Well I hate to add to your bad news, but Kaitou Ace is back in town."

"You've seen him? Did he visit you?"

"He got an audience with Endymion and Serenity, asking for a royal pardon for the charges he's facing," Minako told her. From her tone, Minako sounded like she still couldn't believe it. "They turned him down."

"Any idea where he is now?" Sakurada asked.

"If he's smart, he's half way to England by now," Minako replied ruefully. "But he's probably still here." She glanced at Sakurada. "There's still something here that he wants."

* * *

At a hastily convened meeting in the Crystal Palace, Queen Serenity sat at a conference table with her four closest friends, as well as Luna and Artemis. Listening in on their communicators were Haruka and Michiru from their home.

"And that's what Superintendent Sakurada told me," Minako concluded, after relaying everything Sakurada had told her at the police station.

"Yes, Hayami pointed this out to me while I was occupied with medical reports," Ami added. "He's noticed the upswing in news reports of violent crime in the papers, on television and in internet news pages, and brought it to my attention. I was going to convene a meeting, but Minako beat me to it."

"So why is this happening?" Serenity asked desperately. "Fourteen people dead? Dozens more injured? Who would do such a thing?"

"Superintendent Sakurada suggested it could be a coordinated attempt to discredit you as a ruler," Minako mentioned. "Or possibly an attempt to draw you into the open for another assassination attempt."

"Both logical possibilities," Ami nodded. "Escalating incidents of urban violence would discredit you and your government as administrators of the public welfare. It might even incite a general revolution if the public were sufficiently provoked due to inflammatory rhetoric playing on heightened fear."

"And whoever tried to kill you once probably isn't happy their first attempt missed," Makoto added. "I doubt whoever it is cares how many people they have to hurt or kill to get to you."

"Then we'll have to stop it," Serenity replied. "Even if we have to go out and stop it ourselves."

"I hope you weren't thinking of coming along, Hon'," Makoto said warily.

"I can't just sit by while innocent people get hurt!" gasped Serenity.

"That's just how they want you to think, Serenity," Michiru said over the communicator. "There's no sense becoming a easy target. We'll go on patrol - - try to stop as many of these incidents as we can. But you have to stay in the palace where you're safe."

"As amazing as it is," Makoto added, "I have to agree with Michiru. You have to sit this one out, Hon'."

Serenity looked down, clearly upset by the prospect. Everyone felt bad for her.

"Perhaps it would help the situation if you went on national television and assured the public that everything is being done to alleviate the situation," Ami suggested.

"Certainly," Serenity whispered. "It was bad enough when someone was so violently opposed to my being queen that they tried to kill me. Now they're hurting other people because of it? Is it worth it?"

"It is, Your Majesty," Luna told her. "Never for a moment believe otherwise."

"Well, we better get on patrol," Minako said. As the others rose from their seats, she reached over and gently took hold of Rei's arm. "You going to be able to do this? We could use your help, but I don't want to push you."

"I'll be there," Rei sighed, still in the grip of depression. "Don't depend on me having any of my spiritual abilities, but I'm pretty sure I can still command my fire attacks."

"Hey, if worse comes to worse, you can always wiggle your hips at the bad guys and Jupiter can whomp them while they're distracted," Minako quipped.

"Classy, Blondie," muttered Makoto. But it managed to draw a smile from Rei and that was all that mattered to Minako.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. Allies?

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 5: "Allies?"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Driving through the streets of Minato-Ku in the Ikegami family car, as the Crystal Palace didn't have a fleet of cars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars searched the streets on patrol looking for signs of trouble. It didn't give them much more of an advantage than the regular Tokyo police had, but since neither of them could fly, it was all that was left to them. Jupiter glanced over at Mars, then resumed her driving.

"Hope you don't mind partnering with me," Jupiter offered. "I figured me and Ami should drive, since that keeps Minako from behind the wheel, and I just wasn't up to listening to Minako brag about her new boyfriend some more."

"I don't mind. It's my fault for never learning how to drive," Mars replied, still with an edge of sadness to her voice. "And anything that keeps Minako from behind the wheel..."

"I had another reason for asking for you," Jupiter confessed. "I figured we could talk some more about what's bothering you. You know, kill two birds," and Jupiter stopped talking suddenly. "Um, I mean, pass the time in the car efficiently."

"I know what you mean," Mars said. "And I'm glad you did." Mars continued to look out the passenger window.

"You know you did all you could, don't you?" Jupiter ventured.

"Did I?" Mars asked without turning.

"You tried to escape, didn't you? Tried to resist?"

"I guess," Mars answered. "But every time I tried to use my fire attacks, I'd get doused - - and then beaten. I even tried to use Snake Fire. But those shackles were forged to hold someone who could manipulate fire. And I'd get doused before I could get hot enough." Her breath shuddered. "And after a while, you just want the pain to end."

Jupiter glanced over at her again. "Nothing bad in that. Nobody wants to hurt."

"Besides," Mars sighed, "Usagi and the rest of you were all frozen. I heard them gloating about it. They'd taunt me with it when they beat me. And it," and Mars' lower lip trembled a little, "well, it kind of took a lot of my will away. I figured she was dead - - that you were all gone. Why try to escape when there's nothing to escape to? Why keep fighting when there's nothing left to fight for? After a while, the only thing I was thinking of was how to keep from getting beaten." She sighed a guilty sigh. "I should have had more faith - - faith in her. Faith in all of you."

"That's hindsight," Jupiter told her. "I don't know how I would react if I was the only one who survived that. I know it would have knocked me for a loop. To think of all of you dead, and Sanjuro and my kids." Jupiter reflected for a moment. "I was at that point in my life once, where I had nothing to live for. And I didn't handle it that well. You know my story. I'm not proud of how I reacted. But I learned something from it. It's past and you can't change it. All you can do is be strong enough not to do it again. Feeling guilty about it is OK, but not to the point that it cripples you. You have to move on and do better. Standing still and looking back at it gets you no place fast."

Mars began to contemplate those words. Suddenly Jupiter reached out and grabbed Mars' arm to get her attention. Pointing, she directed Mars' attention to a car up ahead. Sticking out of the passenger side window was an automatic weapon and it was spraying bullets along a string of shops that had just reopened a few weeks ago.

"Can you take out their tires?" Jupiter asked, gunning the car forward.

For a moment Mars wondered if she could. But Jupiter was right in that all she could do was try. Bringing down the passenger side window, Mars stuck her head and torso out and summoned her flaming bow and arrow. The senshi drew back and took aim. Doubt began to circle around her. Could she hit the tires? Would she miss and hit the gas tank, or a pedestrian or another car?

"Do it, Mars!" Jupiter shouted.

Mars took a breath, cleared her mind and took aim as she had a thousand times before. With her long black hair whipping behind her, Mars got her target and fired before she could think twice about it. The arrow cleaved the air, punctured the tire and caught the rubber on fire. The vehicle skidded to a stop, with Jupiter stopping right behind them. Quickly the two senshi scrambled out, amid the excited exclamations of those watching.

What piled out of the car were three street toughs, delinquents barely out of high school. But they were delinquents with two HK-53 assault rifles and a Russian PP-2000 machine pistol. Mars froze for a moment when she saw the guns. Her first impulse was to immolate them before they could shoot her and Jupiter. But did she dare? What would Serenity say?

"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter yelled, taking the decision out of Mars' hands.

Lightning lanced down to the lightning rod on her tiara, then shot out and connected with the metal in the guns. Conducted by the metal, the electricity jumped into the bodies of the three youths and they stiffened as one.

"Artemis, call the police," Jupiter said over her communicator. "We've got a pickup." She glanced at Mars. "Fancy shooting there, Mars. See, you haven't lost all of it."

"I'm just glad you were here," Mars replied. And Jupiter could see her thoughts were still bleak.

* * *

Sailor Venus was running down a crowded sidewalk in pursuit of a man in his early twenties who had walked into the lobby of Juuban Second General Hospital - - ironically the one Ami had interned at - - and began breaking windows and furnishings with a length of aluminum pipe. As he swung at objects and people alike, he was heard to proclaim that he was about to be famous and it was all thanks to Sailor Moon.

But the minute Venus and Sailor Mercury appeared in the door, the suspect cut and ran, crashing through a lobby window and into the street. Venus pursued on foot while Mercury followed in her car. The crowds on the sidewalk prevented Venus from using her attacks , but at least he was running and not assaulting people.

Several turns later left her with no sign of him. Venus wondered if the suspect had lost himself in the crowd, but her instincts told her that wasn't the case. Then she saw the small service alley between buildings.

Venturing in, Venus summoned her Love Me Chain and held it between her hands to use as a weapon in case of attack. There were a dozen different hiding places in the alley and Venus wanted to be ready. Moving past a dumpster, Venus spotted a junction in the alley ahead. Quickening her pace, she reached the edge of the junction, then pressed against the corner. If he had kept running, her quarry was probably long gone unless Mercury had managed to catch him. But she cautiously peered around the corner anyway, just in case he was waiting to swing that piece of pipe at her.

Venus got a quick look at the alley, then pulled back as the pipe swung at her head, chipping off a piece of wood from the corner where it struck. The man swung the pipe again, but Venus caught it with her chain, then spun around to wrap the links around it. A mighty jerk pulled the pipe out of his hands and flung it against the far wall.

Pivoting to attack, Venus pulled up short when a shadowy figure jumped down from the second story roof of the building and landed a knee between the assailant's shoulders. The impact drove the fugitive into the pavement and he sagged, unconscious. The mystery man stepped into the light.

"You see. We do make a great pair," Ace smiled.

"What are you doing? Following me?" Venus demanded.

"I can think of no better way to spend my time," Ace replied light-heartedly. "No gratitude for my assistance?"

"I don't need your help," Venus scowled.

"Yes, you are quite the warrior," Ace nodded. "But some people could never see that."

"What do you mean?" Venus demanded.

"Surely you've encountered the mind-set that you will always need to be protected like fragile glass," Ace replied nonchalantly. "Even though you've fought tremendous odds since you were thirteen. There are many such unenlightened minds on this world. And Kunzite-Sama as I remember, was a good example as well."

"I wouldn't know about that," Venus replied hoarsely.

"I, however, merely wished to aid someone I . . ."

"Don't-say-it," Venus huffed.

"Admire greatly for her prowess," Ace said confidently. "Did you think I was going to say something else? I don't really have to. We already both know it."

Venus looked at him, trying to come up with a denial, an argument, anything that would make him go away. But at the same time, she could feel the longing for him rising up within her once again.

"I told the police you were here," Venus said finally. "They're looking for you."

"Perhaps, but they have their hands full at the moment," Ace replied.

"You're not angry?"

"Do what your sense of duty tells you. I won't love you any less." He reached up and stroked her cheek. Venus didn't flinch away. "Just do not deny me any longer. Do not deny yourself."

"Please step away from her," they heard Mercury say. Ace turned and saw Sailor Mercury standing five feet from them. Not willing to risk an attack, Ace put his hands up level with his shoulders and backed to one side of the junction with an amiable smile on his face. Mercury's gaze shifted to the man at their feet. "I'll have Artemis send a medic unit."

"Who do you suppose is behind all of this?" Venus asked. "I was thinking Yakuza, but all this guy had was a piece of pipe and an attitude."

"Someone is urging them to act out," Mercury nodded. "I don't think it's the shift in governmental policies, as so many commentators and politicians are suggesting. Perhaps the police can draw some conclusions after interrogating this man. Now, Takeda-San, I believe you are still . . ."

But there was no trace of Ace in the ally. Mercury seemed confused.

"Yeah, he does that," sighed Venus.

* * *

While Artemis coordinated with the senshi and law enforcement, Luna hovered near Serenity as the Queen watched a news broadcast on the situation. Endymion was on the phone with Superintendent Sakurada. Luna watched Serenity's silent reaction to the news and worried about what her Queen would do.

"Dozens of acts of open vandalism, assaults, robberies and other acts of violence are sweeping all of metro Tokyo," the newscaster reported. "Since the coronation of Sailor Moon and her husband as King and Queen of Japan, violence and criminal activity have almost doubled. The death toll is fifty-six with hundreds more hospitalized."

"We were on a trip to the market," a clearly traumatized woman said to an off-camera interviewer. "A man just ran up and-and started beating my husband! I don't know why! I never saw him before! If the store security guard hadn't pulled him off, my husband might be dead! He might still die!" She looked down, teetering on shock. "I thought Sailor Moon was supposed to protect us."

"Opinions vary as to the cause of this sudden outbreak of violence," the newscaster continued. "Critics of the government claim that this is evidence that Sailor Moon and her husband are ill-equipped to rule a country. Supporters counter that this is an orchestrated plot to discredit and embarrass the new monarchs in the eyes of the people and the world. The victims of this surge of violence can only ask why."

"We have to do something," Serenity said softly, staring at the television without seeing it. She noticed Endymion off of the phone and looked up at him. "Endymion, we have to do something!"

"Superintendent Sakurada and her force are doing all they can," Endymion told her. "They've had to set up temporary holding cells for all of the suspects they've caught. But she only has forty thousand or so police trying to cover twenty-one hundred square kilometers and police sixteen million people. They can't be everywhere. Even with the senshi helping out, it seems like two get away for every person they catch."

"Fortunately the violence seems to be limited just to Tokyo for the moment," Luna assessed. "A fact that I find quite suspicious."

"I agree," Endymion nodded. "Some of it may be just random crime and violence that would have happened no matter who was in charge. But some of it seems coordinated, like it's aimed at embarrassing and discrediting the new government."

"That's not important!" Serenity spoke up. "We have to do something! We have to stop it!" She sniffed loudly and her lip trembled. "We have to protect those poor people."

"Your Majesty, we're doing everything humanly possible," Luna said. "Unless you're considering using the crystal to alter everyone's mind as you did Setsuko-Chan's . . ."

"No," Serenity said. "That wouldn't be right."

"And quite a danger to yourself, I might add," Luna nodded. "You could always make a public show of incarcerating those who have been captured without trial or sentence, as you did with the Yakuza Oyabun. Perhaps a show of force would quell some of this lawlessness."

"Force and intimidation hardly seems like the path toward that Crystal Tokyo we saw in the future," Endymion commented.

"Well we can't be everywhere and protect everyone," Luna countered. "It isn't physically possible. Until we are able to learn whether this outbreak of violence is orchestrated and who is orchestrating it, incarceration for the public's protection may be the only feasible solution."

They both looked to Queen Serenity. She still seemed greatly disturbed by the television broadcast.

"Your Majesty?" Luna prodded.

"If you think it best, Endymion," she replied distantly.

"I know that look," Luna scowled. "What are you planning?"

"There's one other thing we can do," Serenity answered. "Help the people who have been affected by this. Heal them; replace what they've lost; ease their grief by showing that someone does care."

"Commendable, Your Majesty," Luna replied. "But that may be playing into the hands of your enemies."

"I won't hide and watch people suffer, Luna," Serenity said, rising from the sofa. "I can't."

"I'll come with you," Endymion offered.

"No," she told him. "Stay here. Manage the jailing of these people. Keep them from harming anyone else. We'll sort out who is a threat from who just made a mistake later." She caressed his cheek. "I'll be fine."

Endymion took a deep breath, indicating he wasn't happy with this. But ultimately he nodded.

* * *

Shojihimu Oka ran a small restaurant just outside of the Minato-Ku business district. It served breakfast and lunch, as well as baked goods and had for fifteen years. Shojihimu Oka was forty-six. He had started out as a low level manager for Honda, but quickly soured on the stress, the regimentation and the long hours demanded. One day he quit, to the horror of his wife. Taking out a loan, he started the restaurant.

It had been a struggle for the first year: getting started, establishing a clientele and keeping up with the payments to the bank. But he made it. Fourteen years later, he couldn't be happier. Shojihimu had found his niche in the world. His wife acknowledged her lack of faith and helped him run the place. And over the years, the reputation of his place grew until it was a destination spot for everyone in the neighborhood. Shojihimu was everybody's favorite host and his patrons were more than guests - - they were friends. That's why in the first days after the disaster, when all anybody had to eat otherwise was fruits and vegetables, Shojihimu and his wife provided free bread and pastry to everyone as a way of helping out and a way of thanking them for their friendship.

When the bell at the door rang, signaling someone entering the restaurant, Shojihimu looked up to greet them. Upon seeing them, his heart sank. It was the two men who claimed to be from the Ministry of Taxation. They had stopped by a week ago, telling him that they were to collect a tax on his restaurant in the name of Sailor Moon. When they left, he'd called the Ministry of Taxation and learned that there was no such tax. He contemplated calling the police, but the recent crime wave put him off of it. Now they were back.

"Got your tax ready?" one of them asked. He was dressed in a crisp black suit, had slicked back black hair and an intimidating demeanor. Shojihimu felt his resolve withering.

"There is no tax," he forced himself to say. "I called and checked."

"Sailor Moon is going to be very disappointed to hear that," the stranger replied. His partner watched the door. "Bad things could happen," and he rammed his gloved hand through the glass top of a display case. "And she doesn't want bad things to happen to her people."

"Y-You get out of here!" Shojihimu managed to say. "Akio, call the police!" By now everyone in the restaurant was looking at them. But the menacing look from the man's partner kept them in their seats.

All but one.

"Sailor Moon would never say anything like that!" a man said loudly, standing in defiance of them. Everyone looked at him, but no one recognized him. He was in his early twenties. He could be a college student or a young ronin. But there was an almost fanatical look to him, with his shaggy hair, wisps of a beard and baggy clothing. "Sailor Moon is a god - - and gods don't hire thugs to act for them!"

"You need to sit down before you get hurt," rumbled the partner.

"No!" the youth replied. "You're just a couple of cheap shakedown artists using Sailor Moon's name in vain! And I won't stand for it!"

"Maybe you two better get out of here," another patron said. Shojihimu knew him as Sawa Todoka, a friend and customer for years. "We like Shoji-San, and we don't like seeing him threatened."

"This is a nice place," another patron, Keiki Satsuma said as he stood. "We're not going to stand by and let you bust it up like all the other places."

"And the God Sailor Moon came unto this land," the strange youth began, raising his arms above his head to the perplexed stares of both the thugs and Shojihimu, "and she decreed that there would be an end to hatred and violence! And peace would reign throughout the land, for the benefit of all!" Then he pointed at the two thugs. "But not so long as vile creatures such as you walk the Earth!"

And he lunged at the two thugs. Initially they were taken aback, but several blows from the youth brought them back to reality. One swing staggered him. But then the other patrons descended on the two, punching and clawing at the two until they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of patrons attacking them. When the mob parted, the two thugs were kneeling, their hands bound behind them with electrical cords. They cast suspicious, nervous glances at their captors.

"Call the police," one said.

"That'll take too long," another said. "Just get them out of here."

Pulled to their feet, the two thugs were hustled to the door and shoved out into the street with little concern over how they might land. Joyous in victory, the patrons returned to the counter and began showering Shojihimu and his wife with the affection fifteen years as a friend of the neighborhood had earned him. Shojihimu felt his eyes water with gratitude.

While outside, the two thugs tried to struggle to their feet, muttering vengeance. But they stopped when they heard the voice of the shaggy youth behind them.

"And in the name of the Moon," he said, hoisting a brick above his head with one hand, "I will punish you!"

The brick split the skull of one thug open. As he slumped bleeding to the sidewalk, the other thug turned just in time to get the brick rammed into his nose. His orbital bone shattered and fragments were driven into his brain. He was dead before he hit the sidewalk.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. In The Face Of Aggression

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 6: "In The Face Of Aggression"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

In the Kanto region of Japan, in Western Municipal Tokyo was the town of Fuchu, home of Fuchu Prison for men. Fuchu Prison was the single largest prison in all of Japan, with a reputation for harsh regimentation that Endymion and Serenity hadn't gotten around to dealing with yet. As such, it remained a feared place. Among the offenders incarcerated in its Spartan walls was Yoshiki Morobishi, until recently head of the Yakuza Clan in Chiyoda-Ku.

Sitting across from him, separated by a Plexiglas panel, was his wife, Shiho. The woman searched his face for clues to how he was holding up as they talked through a phone system. Yoshiki had the stern but controlled continence of a legendary samurai of old. She knew conditions were harsh, but her husband didn't complain or show any weakness. New respect for him flowered within her. Though wearing regulation prison garb and regulation prison haircut, this was the man she married.

"I've been hearing about trouble on the outside," Yoshiki replied without emotion. "Apparently not everyone in Japan is ready to lay down and become docile sheep?"

"The news reports are correct," Shiho nodded calmly, "as I understand."

"A surprising turn of events," Yoshiki said. "I can't say I'm terribly upset by it. I have no reason to feel sympathy for Serenity-Hime. Do you think it will continue?"

"It would not surprise me," Shiho replied. "Many are losing faith in a ruler who preaches love and peace one moment, then jails people without trial the next. Perhaps she will see the error of her ways and free people such as you." For a moment, emotion began to peek out. "Kakeru and I both miss you."

"No more than I miss you, Shiho," Yoshiki told her. "It is a sad thing that has happened to Japan, but if Serenity-Hime does not see the error of her ways, I imagine it will continue."

"Or perhaps worsen until she falls," Shiho added, unable to disguise the rage in her gaze.

"One caution, Shiho," Yoshiki said solemnly. "A person obsessed with vengeance against a single enemy cannot recognize that enemies often surround him. And he leaves himself vulnerable to attack."

Outside of Fuchu Prison, Shiho Morobishi walked to the family sedan. Her driver and bodyguard waited for her. The message, passed in innocuous, unincriminating statements, had been given and received: Shiho was responsible for the wave of robberies and assaults plaguing Tokyo, all in an attempt to discredit and undermine Endymion and Serenity and force them to either release Yoshiki or relinquish power. Yoshiki approved of the plan and encouraged her to continue. Shiho warned him of possible escalation. It was something she wanted: not only to see Yoshiki free, but to see Sailor Moon on her knees.

Inside the car, returning to Chiyoda, Shiho received a call on her cell. Answering it, she found Kazuyuki Akiyama, one of the Clan's underbosses.

"Morobishi-Sama," he grunted. "A problem's come up."

"Explain," Shiho said.

"We had two book stores and three gambling parlors hit last night. Gang of men busted in, tossed the place and shot the workers. Lost about twelve hundred million yen and three men. The rest are pretty bad off."

"A rival clan?" Shiho asked. The possibility had existed that a rival clan might try to move in on the Morobishi Clan ever since Yoshiki's incarceration. Was this what Yoshiki was warning her about?

"Don't think so," Akiyama replied. "We also had two guys running that 'tax on small businesses' scam bludgeoned to death. And one of the gambling parlor men said as the guys were trashing the place, they were shouting 'In the name of the Moon, we'll punish you'. You think Queen Serenity's hitting back?"

Shiho Morobishi stared at the back of her driver's head, scowling.

"Put guards at all of the parlors and book stores," Shiho said. "Tell them if something like that starts to happen again, shoot first and don't miss."

That would take care of the businesses short term. If it was one of the rival clans hitting her businesses and trying to deflect the blame to Sailor Moon, she would soon find out. If it was Sailor Moon . . .

As the car drove east, Shiho Morobishi decided she needed to gather some information from an ally.

* * *

Superintendent Sakurada sat in her office reviewing the morning crime statistics. She'd heard the news reports coming into the office. The wave of violence and anarchy hadn't subsided. The police were making a dent in it, but not enough to quell things and restore order. Pressure was beginning to come in from the public, the media and the Diet for results. Naturally her department was in the middle.

"Wish I could suspend the Constitution like Queen Serenity," muttered Sakurada as she sipped tea. "Just round everybody up and shake the innocent ones loose." She sighed. "At least the palace isn't demanding action."

The phone rang.

"Superintendent Sakurada?" a male voice asked over the phone. "This is King Endymion. I was just calling to talk about this wave of violence that's taking place."

"Your Majesty," Sakurada replied, trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice, "we're doing everything we can."

"I know you are," Endymion assured her. "I'm not calling to question your efforts or demand action that you're already taking. You're very good at your job and the Queen and I have every confidence in you and your force."

"Well, thank you, Your Majesty."

"I just wanted to know what progress you've made."

Sakurada normally didn't like sharing the particulars of on-going investigations with civilians. But he was associated with "her V-Chan" - - and he was King.

"Of all the suspects we've apprehended," Sakurada outlined, "they're mostly young - - teens to mid-twenties. Some have records, some don't. There doesn't seem to be anything to link them to each other, aside from their claim that Queen Serenity has abolished the rules - - except for one thing."

"And that is?" Endymion asked.

"After we break them down, they all have the same story," Sakurada continued. "Many of the suspects claim that they were given weapons or vehicles by older men they'd never encountered before and encouraged to run amok with them, to create as much violence and anarchy as possible. Now if a few gave this alibi, it wouldn't have much credibility. But when this many suspects have the same explanation, it's difficult not to think its true."

"Someone is deliberately committing terrorist acts against the population," Endymion summarized.

"And using unaffiliated youths and street toughs to perpetrate it so whatever organization is behind this can't be directly implicated."

"But you suspect someone," Endymion stated.

"There aren't many organizations that can lay their hands on this many weapons and vehicles this quickly," Sakurada reasoned. "It could possibly be a corporation upset by your recent changes to the tax and procurement system. The more likely scenario is one of the Yakuza Clans. Either on their on or contracted by another individual or group, they've declared war on the new monarchy."

There was a moment of silence on the line.

"Very good work, Superintendent," Endymion said. "Continue your efforts. I'll try to come up with some assistance for your department. Hopefully we can quell this before anyone else is hurt."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sakurada replied. Endymion hung up. Wondering what the King meant by "assistance", she went back to studying the reports from the previous night.

Then she noticed the string of incidents at suspected Yakuza establishments. Was a turf war about to erupt on top of everything else? Or had his "assistance" already started?

* * *

Jinghua Tan was Chinese. She had emigrated from Hong Kong ahead of the city's turnover to the Communist government. Since that time, she had established a home, a family and a career in Japanese society. It had been hard at times, but her grandmother had always told her that nothing worthwhile was easy. Her home and the homes of her neighbors had even escaped the damage of the ice disaster mostly unscathed. Life was just getting back to normal.

Then two youths in a car had driven by the previous night and thrown a bottle of alcohol with a burning rag in it through her front window. Fortunately she and her family hadn't been home. They were at a film that her kids had desperately wanted to see. As a result no one was home to see the flaming bottle catch the drapes and the furnishings on fire. By the time anyone noticed, the front room was fully involved. By the time the fire department arrived, the house was fully involved. And as densely packed as the houses were on her block, the houses on either side of her were burning, too.

"At least no one died," said someone next to Jinghua as she stared at the smoldering shell of her home. Jinghua turned and saw it was Kaoru Najima, who lived two doors down. Bereft of her voice, Jinghua nodded. It was true. No one had died. At least they could thank the gods for that. "Where are you staying?"

"An inn," Jinghua replied hoarsely. "I suppose we'll have to find another place. We can't afford to stay at the inn forever." Suddenly she looked at Mrs. Najima. "Why? The fire fighters said that someone threw a flaming bottle through my window. Why?"

"I don't know," Najima said. She was in her late forties and had a teenage son and daughter she was trying to guide to college. "I know it wasn't anybody from around here. It must be some of those people they talk about on the news. You know: The no rules people. The people who think they can do anything now that Sailor Moon is Queen." Najima glanced at her neighbor and added as an after thought, "It wasn't because you're Chinese."

"That doesn't make it any better," Jinghua sighed. "Maybe we should have kept the old ways."

She glanced at her neighbor, but Mrs. Najima wasn't listening. She was looking up into the sky. Following the woman's stare, Jinghua looked up and saw the impossible: a woman with golden hair and a billowing white gown flying in the sky above them. And she was landing right by them.

"Q-Queen Serenity?" Jinghua stammered as Mrs. Najima stared in amazement.

"I only just heard," Serenity said, sympathy oozing from her as she grasped Jinghua's tiny hands. "Was anyone hurt?"

"N-No," Jinghua replied. Just being in the presence of this woman seemed to ease the heaviness on her heart. "How do you know me?"

"I don't, really," Serenity shrugged. "I just heard about what happened and I wanted to see what I could do to help. What's your name?"

"Um, Jinghua Tan."

"But," Mrs. Najima said incredulously, "you're the Queen!" A crowd was gathering from the neighborhood residents.

"Who better?" Serenity asked. Then she bowed to Jinghua. "I'm very sorry for what happened, Tan-San. Endymion and I are trying to put a stop to all of this horrible violence. Please forgive us for not doing better. I'm so glad to hear that no one was hurt by this."

"Yes," Jinghua nodded, still stunned by everything.

Turning to the burned out home, Serenity closed her eyes. To everyone, she seemed to take on a silvery glow, something amazing in and of itself. Then, dreamily, she extended her right hand. The burned out shell of a home began to glow silver as well. There was a flash of light.

"My home!" gasped Jinghua. "It looks like it was before the fire!" Gasps of amazement rose up from the crowd.

"If I did it right," Serenity grinned sheepishly. "Please let me know if I didn't."

"I," Jinghua began, reeling. "How can I thank you?"

Serenity grasped the woman's hands and smiled. "Tell me about your children," she grinned. "And your husband. Do you love him?"

* * *

Shinjiro Hino looked on as carpenters hastily worked on the frame of a house. The frame was being built on the grounds of where Hino had previously lived before he had become Prime Minister. When he resigned to accommodate the coronation of King Endymion and Queen Serenity, his first thought was to move back into his previous home, which he still owned. But when he arrived, the home had been replaced by a large, white, egg-shaped domicile, indicating that his old home had been destroyed by the ice disaster.

Alerted by movement, Hino spotted his old colleague, Jinro Takahashi ducking under the branch of a plum tree that hadn't been there before the ice disaster. Hino waved to him as Takahashi walked up the path and sat down on the decorative bench next to him.

"Rebuilding your old home, Hino?" Takahashi observed, adjusting his glasses. "Don't you like Queen Serenity's taste in architecture?"

"It's a little bland for my taste," Hino smiled. "Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for everything she's done for Japan. But living in an egg shell wasn't my idea of a happy retirement. And I've got the money." He grinned at his guest. "Besides, it's my part to stimulate the local economy."

"Once a politician . . ." Takahashi grinned back. Then his smile dimmed.

"So what's bothering you?" Hino asked. "Aside from the transfer of power. We both know how you feel about that. Is there something more?"

"Are you familiar with the old fable of the turtle and the scorpion?" Takahashi asked, staring at the carpenters as they worked.

"A turtle agrees to ferry a scorpion across a great river," Hino recalled, looking at Takahashi as he spoke. "Midway across, the scorpion stings the turtle. The turtle asks why, as now they'll both drown. The scorpion tells him 'it's my nature'."

"Basically," Takahashi replied.

Hino looked him over. "So who stung you?"

Takahashi glanced at him. "How do you know I'm not the scorpion?"

"Well I don't, unless you tell me," Hino persisted. "Given our histories, I can guess that you made a deal with someone and it's gone sour. You don't have to tell me with who. But if I'm going to help, I'll need to at least know how bad it is."

Takahashi went back to staring at the carpenters.

"I'm going to rely on your discretion," Takahashi said finally. "I - - arranged with another party to try to discredit my opposition. But they've gone too far. Parties that I didn't want involved are now involved." He emitted a heavy sigh. "The whole thing is spiraling out of control. I tried to pull them back - - and they threatened me in return."

"Politically or physically?"

"Both," Takahashi replied. "I don't know what to do. Stopping them could potentially end my career. But letting this play out involves - - actions - - that I don't want to be a party to."

The two men sat silently as the carpenters worked.

"Is this 'other party' affiliated with a Yakuza Clan?" Hino asked. Takahashi looked at him the way Hino remembered people always stared at his daughter. "Don't be shocked. I've had a couple of dealings with them myself. They're very good at getting things done quickly because they don't feel the need to abide by the rules. It's just that dealing with them is like handling a venomous snake. You have to treat them with a great deal of caution and respect. Don't get too close, because you risk getting bitten."

"I suppose I should have known," Takahashi conceded. "You always were a smarter politician than I was. It's sound advice. I usually followed it. But I guess I just got too greedy."

"That's what usually does it," Hino agreed. "Does this have anything to do with the wave of crime and violence that's suddenly popped up?"

"I won't deny it," Takahashi replied.

Hino said nothing. He watched the frame of his new home go up. Takahashi nervously glanced at him, wondering what the man he succeeded as leader of the Liberal Democrat Party would do.

"I told you change was coming, Takahashi," Hino said finally. "I told you that it would be smarter to accept it than get swept away by it." He thought a moment. "I'll talk to Queen Serenity. I'll put her and her people on the trail of your partner. They can strike at the source and stop this before it goes too far. I'll try not to implicate you." He turned and looked at Takahashi. "But they have ways of learning things. Be prepared for the possibility of it coming out. Which Clan were you dealing with?"

"Morobishi's Clan," Takahashi admitted. Hino's eyes grew larger, but he said nothing more. "Since Morobishi's imprisonment, I've been dealing with his wife. He at least was reasonable."

"Now I see how this could end your career," Hino said softly. "I'll tell Queen Serenity as much as she needs to know."

"There's no other way?" Takahashi asked.

"There's always other ways," Hino replied. "But this is the most likely way to protect both the people of Tokyo and protect your reputation."

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Dream Or Premonition

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 7: "Dream Or Premonition"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

 _It was a day like no other in all the annals of Silver Millennium. Prince Endymion, the guardian of the Earth, had appeared at the palace of Queen Serenity and requested an audience. There, he sought an alliance with the Moon Kingdom, a mutual pact against the growing dark forces that each saw more evidence of with every passing day. Though the Princess Usagi was thrilled by his appearance and by his entreaty and petitioned her mother to accept, Queen Serenity was wary. She trusted no one from the Earth, for the tide of public opinion on the Earth was turning against those of the Moon Kingdom._

 _And she had little trust for the Earth prince. Though he spoke eloquently and had obviously won over her daughter and many in her court, Serenity sensed a darkness within the prince, a human frailty that might be exploited by the dark Queen, Metallia. And she knew of the secret liaison he'd had with the Earth witch, Beryl. If Beryl was linked to Metallia, as was hinted at by her seers, could this Endymion be linked as well?_

 _When the audience ended, Endymion disappeared. When she noticed the Princess Usagi had suspiciously vanished as well, Luna set out to search for them. She, too, didn't trust this Endymion. And with the girl's hormones raging, she trusted the Princess Usagi even less. Exiting the palace for the grounds near the ornate fountain in the front courtyard, Luna caught a glimpse of blonde hair and made for it. But when she got closer, she found it was Princess Venus, in the company of an Earth soldier. Endymion had brought his right hand General, Kunzite, and a small company of soldiers as guardians. They had waited outside the palace while he met with the Queen._

 _Curious, Luna came closer. The first thing she observed was that this soldier was perhaps the most comely man she had ever seen. Light colored hair dangling to the shoulders, framing a face that was masculine, but soft and beautiful rather than rough and angular. He had an athletic frame and filled his armor perfectly. The black cat could only stare in astonishment, hypnotized by his appearance._

 _Then she noticed that Princess Venus did not seem to share her infatuation._

" _So?" Venus demanded impatiently. "Do you know where Kunzite is or not?"_

" _Alas, I do not, My Lady," the soldier answered. Venus was about to go, but he put out an arm and barred her path. "Please, My Lady. A moment. There is something I must say, that I am compelled to say."_

 _Venus stopped and feigned listening while she surreptitiously searched for Kunzite._

" _I realize it will not mean much to you," he began. "My name is Adonis. I am a poor soldier, indifferent to rules and to discipline. In addition, I have been deemed something of a rogue. I have known many women." He leaned closer. "But I have loved only one. That one, My Lady, is you."_

 _Venus turned to him, as if hearing him for the first time, and stared._

" _I have loved you since the moment I first gazed upon you," Adonis continued. "Until that moment, I had no concept of the word 'perfection'. When I saw you, it was as if a dream had come to life, as if a goddess had stepped from the foam and walked the Earth, shaming all others who but for a moment might compare themselves to her."_

" _OK," Venus smiled. "You got my attention."_

 _Adonis allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. "That you notice me for this long is more than I could have ever hoped to achieve. Forgive my boldness. You have no reason to grant me this, for you are a goddess masquerading as a Princess, and I am but a lowly foot soldier. Being in your presence is more heady than the sweetest wine. But perhaps one such as yourself could consider for just a moment gracing me . . ."_

 _And like a blur, Adonis was suddenly gone. Luna and Venus both refocused and found him flat on the marble walk by the fountain, Kunzite standing over him._

" _DOG!" Kunzite snarled angrily. "To think that you possessed the RIGHT to even speak to one so above your station is unforgivable! But to actually attempt to SEDUCE HER?"_

 _Kunzite kicked Adonis savagely, doubling the man over while he still lay on the stone walk. Adonis lingered there, doubled over in pain, seemingly defenseless at the feet of his commander._

" _I put up with your antics because you have a cool head in battle!" Kunzite seethed. "But to insult me by trying to work your wiles on MY WOMAN?"_

 _To their horror, Kunzite drew his sword. Instantly Venus rushed forward and caught his sword arm, preventing it from descending._

" _Kunzite, stop!" cried Venus._

" _He was close enough to touch you!" Kunzite raged. "For him to think himself equal to you, it is an insult to you!"_

" _Well I wasn't insulted!" Venus countered. "And if you think I would have been lured away from you by a few pretty words, then you must not think much of me!"_

" _Princess!" Kunzite said in alarm. "You misunderstand! Never would I question your fealty! But this worm is a conniver! He will not stop, even if you rebuff him!" Kunzite turned and glared at the still prostrate Adonis. "Better I gut him now than risk you having to listen to him again!"_

" _On the Palace Grounds?" Venus demanded. "Possibly before the eyes of Queen Serenity herself? Do you want to sabotage the efforts of your Prince that much?"_

 _Kunzite stared at the ground, his jaw clenched and his hand strangling the hilt of his sword. Finally, after an agonizingly long wait, he sheathed the sword._

" _Once again you are wise and I am graced to have your favor," Kunzite said softly. He turned and kicked Adonis's leg. "Return to your squad. And do not catch my notice again."_

 _His arm around her waist, Kunzite escorted Princess Venus away. But as they left, Luna noted that Venus cast her eyes back at Adonis. And it was out of more than curiosity._

* * *

In Minako's bedroom, Artemis raised his head and looked when he heard Minako emit a very loud sigh of frustration.

"Another dream about Silver Millennium?" he asked.

"Yeah," Minako huffed. "And this one even had Ace in it." She covered her face with her pillow. "If this keeps up, it's going to put me off sleeping permanently. I just wish I knew how Ace was doing it."

Artemis looked on with sympathy, but didn't really know what to tell his charge.

* * *

Former Prime Minister Shinjiro Hino parked his car and approached the Crystal Palace. Much of the grounds were still the remains of Juuban Park, and as such were a collection of grass, trees and paths. Since it had no parking facilities, Hino had decided to take the short walk from the street. It would allow him to think.

Even though his colleague, Jinro Takahashi, hadn't mentioned what he had contracted with the Morobishi Clan for, Hino was sharp enough to put the pieces together. The rampage of lawlessness that had gripped Tokyo would be a good means of discrediting Endymion and Serenity in the eyes of the public. The down side of it was that to do so would be putting the very public a Dietman had pledged to serve in danger, skirted treason, and was a violation of a Dietman's oath of office.

And then there was the fact that Yoshiki Morobishi had been implicated in the attempt to assassinate Queen Serenity. That was definitely treason. Perhaps, Hino hoped, that was where the Morobishi Clan had exceeded Takahashi's plans and gone out of control. Because if not, Jinro Takahashi was a traitor to Japan, and he would be an accessory for covering for him.

For Hino intended to cover for him. Jinro Takahashi was a friend, a man he respected. Hino didn't want to see him broken and destroyed, sent to prison or perhaps banished. Hino recalled how painful it had been for him when his mentor had suffered such a fate. And Hino feared the effect on the public moral and confidence in their government if word got out that members of its own government were plotting against the monarchy. Japan and the world was in enough turmoil. Something like this might shatter confidence in rule of law itself.

As he approached the palace, Hino found a long line of people queued up to get into the palace. There had to be several hundred people waiting as a small, harried group of security, newly hired to protect the palace, struggled to keep them orderly. As he approached one of the guards, the man turned to him.

"Forgive me," Hino nodded. "I need to speak to King Endymion and Queen Serenity."

"Please go to the end of the line," the guard motioned.

"You don't understand. This is an important matter. I'm Shinjiro Hino, the former Prime Minister. This is a matter of state."

The guard looked him over, then brought up a communications device. After a short conversation, the guard put his device away and motioned to another guard.

"Pass Hino-San through to the gate," he instructed the other guard. "From there, he'll be escorted to King Endymion."

"Hey, why does he get to go in? I've been waiting since dawn!" howled a man in line.

"Because he's not going to ask the King and Queen to pick lottery numbers for him," the guard shot back.

"Does this happen every day?" Hino asked the guard escorting him.

"Every day," the guard sighed. "And the line seems to get bigger every day. Some of them have legitimate problems, like they got robbed or cheated by some of the leeches the disaster created. Or they're in debt and can't pay, or the disaster wiped out their job and they have no prospects. I've even heard one of two come to ask Queen Serenity to bring their dead spouse or child back to life. That really gets to you."

"How sad," Hino mused.

"But the rest just want something for nothing and they think the Queen is soft-hearted enough to give it to them," the guard added. They arrived at the door and were met by Luna.

"How nice to see you again, Hino-San," Luna said. Hino congratulated himself at no longer staring at a talking cat. "Please follow me. I'm afraid Rei isn't here. She's out trying to put a stop to all of this rampaging hooliganism."

That was welcome news to Hino. He did want to try to rebuild a bridge to his estranged daughter. But he knew of her special abilities and didn't want to risk her learning about Jinro Takahashi's transgressions.

Luna led Hino into the room Endymion used as his office. The cat then leaped up onto a bookshelf to Endymion's right while the monarch welcomed Hino in and gestured him to a chair.

"Thank you for seeing me, King Endymion," Hino said.

"You're always welcome here, Hino-San," Endymion smiled as Luna looked on. "Now you had some business of state to discuss?"

Hino paused to gather himself. "I've learned the agency behind much of the violence that has erupted in Tokyo."

"Really?" Endymion replied, genuinely interested. "Who?"

"The Morobishi Clan of the Yakuza."

"But this Morobishi hoodlum was put in prison!" Luna exclaimed.

"His clan is now being run by his wife," Hino said.

"And she's apparently holding a grudge?" Endymion asked. "This is revenge for the jailing of her husband?"

"I don't know for certain, but it would be a reasonable assumption," Hino nodded. Endymion's speculation was a better reason than the actual one and might even hold some truth to it.

"But why strike at innocent citizens?" Luna demanded.

"To discredit your government and destroy your popularity with the people," Hino explained. "You and Queen Serenity are seen as benefactors of the people, guardians and protectors more than anything. If the public believes that you're no longer guardians they can trust, the hope is that they'll turn on you. They're hoping to destabilize your government and bring you both down."

"I see," Endymion said grimly. "And how did you happen to come by this information?"

"I'm," Hino hesitated, "not at liberty to say, King Endymion. I trust the source of this information, but revealing that would put my source in a very compromising position. I hope you'll understand."

"Very well, Hino-San. I'll respect your wishes," Endymion told him. "And I'll pass your information along to the necessary parties."

"Hopefully it will be the means to put an end to this violence before anyone else has to suffer," Hino nodded. He rose when Endymion rose.

"My hope as well," Endymion stated. The two shook hands and Luna showed him out.

Outside, far enough away from the queued crowds, Hino brought out his cell phone and called his friend and colleague.

"Takahashi? This is Hino," Hino said. "I passed what you told me along. No, I don't think they suspect you at the moment. But be ready for it in case it slips out." He listened to the reply. "And Takahashi? Please consider this a warning from the gods. Don't get involved in something like this again. I won't be there to bail you out a second time."

* * *

That afternoon, on their second day of patrol, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus watched for signs of trouble. The day before had found them assisting in three incidents during their ten hours of patrol. Mercury counseled that it had been three people spared being victims. Venus pointed out how many incidents hadn't been stopped, concluding that the senshi's public profile was little more than a grand show accomplishing nothing.

"You seem on edge, if you'll forgive me for saying so," Mercury assessed. "I grant you that it is frustrating not being able to make more of a difference. But short of an ability to predict future events, our efforts and those of the police are all that can be done at the moment."

"I suppose," sighed Venus.

"The only alternative I can see would be for Serenity to try to extend her 'Crystal Power Kiss' attack over the entire city," Mercury suggested. "I'm not certain she could accomplish it and I'm not certain that it wouldn't be a tremendous risk to her health. I am certain of the notion that mind control is not the path to peace - - not in the long term."

"I guess," Venus replied distantly. Mercury glanced at her.

"Is something else bothering you?" Mercury asked. "Please tell me if it's too personal and I won't ask again. But we have a great deal of time if you do wish to talk about it."

"Maybe talking to you would sort it out," Venus said. She hesitated for a few moments. "I've been having dreams about Silver Millennium."

"Indeed," Mercury nodded. "Are they disturbing dreams?"

"Yeah," Venus acknowledged, "in a couple of ways. I'm dreaming that I'm having an affair with Kunzite."

"That would be disturbing. Although I remember Luna telling me that Queen Beryl's four generals were friends and supporters of Endymion in the time of Silver Millennium and were different people than the beings we fought."

"Maybe not that different," Venus muttered. "That's part of it, too. I don't know if these dreams are just dreams or if I'm remembering what actually happened back then. Artemis said Luna told him that Kunzite and I - - or she - - or - - Hell, I don't know! Whoever it was were a pretty hot item back then."

"When did you begin to have these dreams?" Mercury asked her.

"That's the cherry," Venus exclaimed, wagging her finger. "They started when Ace showed up to ask Serenity and Endymion for a pardon. That's why I know he's behind it, somehow! He's playing with my mind again! I just don't know how he's doing it!"

"Venus," Mercury began, "that was also about the time Luna noticed that the man you're currently seeing resembles Kunzite physically, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but she didn't tell me. Ace did," Venus replied. Then she scowled. "All part of his master plan to lure me back into the sack."

"I'll grant the stipulation that Ace has a history of manipulative behavior," Mercury told her. "But it is possible that these dreams aren't an attempt to manipulate your judgment. You may in fact be experiencing memory flashbacks to Silver Millennium."

"Yeah?"

"Suppressed memories can be triggered by associations and those associations can be completely random," Mercury explained. "Science is still investigating the relationship between association and memory. Any sensory input can trigger a memory: a word, a picture, a smell, a sound, a taste. Any sensory sensation is connected with a memory, occasionally a memory buried deep in the subconscious. And that memory can link to another sensation, which in turn can link to another memory."

"But I've seen Ace dozens of times and I never started dreaming about Silver Millennium before," Venus protested.

"Perhaps it wasn't the reappearance of Ace," Mercury suggested. "Perhaps it was your mind associating Byakugou-San with Kunzite that began to trigger memories in your subconscious, memories that it began revealing to you through dreams."

"So my mind is warning me not to get too close to Kyou?" Venus whispered incredulously.

"That's a speculative interpretation, Venus," Mercury warned. "It's entirely possible that the dreams are just a product of free association and that no 'premonition' value should be placed on them. Rei is much more likely to have premonition dreams than you or I."

"But it's possible," Venus said introspectively.

"It's 'possible'," conceded Mercury. "I hardly think that Byakugou-San is the reincarnation of Kunzite though. He was living during the Dark Kingdom attacks, unless he's far younger than I thought."

The conversation died away as Venus digested this. Mercury searched the streets for trouble as she drove, hoping that she'd managed to help her friend.

"Do you remember anything from Silver Millennium?" Venus asked suddenly, still staring out at the people passing on the street.

"No," Mercury answered. "I know Usagi and Makoto do. I guess the proper association hasn't occurred to trigger any memories in me, assuming I have any repressed memories to trigger." She sighed. "It's possible that Princess Mercury's time in Silver Millennium was very uneventful."

* * *

Shiho Morobishi put the phone down in frustration. It was the fourth time she'd tried to call Jinro Takahashi, both at the cell phone number he'd given her and at his office. There had been no answer each time. Her immediate assumption was that he was ducking her. Whether it was because he feared incrimination, had gotten cold feet over the escalating violence around Tokyo, or both, she didn't care. She couldn't get her husband out of prison alone. She needed Takahashi as a source of information and for the pressure he could publicly apply as "the opposition".

And this would be seen as a test of strength by the other clans. If she was shown to be a weak Oyabun, they would move in like sharks. No, this was unacceptable to her. Perhaps a visit to his public offices was in order. If the publicity didn't shame him, her bodyguards could just work him over.

"Asano," she said to one of the bodyguards who stayed with her at all times. "Bring the car around. We have a visit to make."

As her minions prepared for the trip, Shiho thought to call Kakeru's bodyguards at school. In her view, one didn't leave a teenage boy to his own devices, particularly the son of a Yakuza boss. And, like a concerned mother, she wanted to make certain her son was all right.

But the call was interrupted. Shiho and her bodyguards looked up to find Queen Serenity passing through the ceiling and setting down in their midst.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. The Blackmail Game

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 8: "The Blackmail Game"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

The squad room was full. Every detective, commander and chief for the Chiyoda-Ku district was in the room, summoned there by order of Japan's Superintendent of Police. Speculation spread back and forth through the room, each member of the district force wondering what had motivated the meeting. But all the murmuring died to a hush when Superintendent Natsuna Sakurada entered the room and walked to the podium.

As usual, she looked like a fashion model. Tall for a Japanese woman, with a thick mane of below the shoulder black hair framing a perfectly crafted, perfectly made up face, Sakurada would have been arresting (and the joke had been made many times) in a standard issue uniform. In her usual attire of an immaculately tailored and stylish navy suit dress with tight mid-length skirt, black hose, pumps that made her even taller and her signature crimson bow in place of a tie, the notion of glamour was harder to dispel.

But veterans of the force knew that Superintendent Sakurada had achieved her position on merit and one dismissed or underestimated her at one's own risk. She was sharp, intuitive, one of the gang when she could be, but hard as nails and demanding of everyone's best efforts when need be. She tolerated the rough, raw humor that helped a police officer cope with the job, but she didn't tolerate disrespect. And that's why they followed her.

"Information has come to light," she began, addressing the assembled, "that the Morobishi Clan is the motivation behind the spike in assaults and violent property crimes. This gives us the ability to act more decisively instead of continuing the holding action we've been doing."

The news was greeted with favor by the audience.

"I want every Morobishi member that we can lay our hands on brought in and questioned right up to the very moment we have to charge them or let them go," Sakurada instructed. "One of them will break. Once we get that information, we follow up. If none of them break, they'll at least know they're being targeted. They'll be less likely to incite new violence if they know they're being watched."

"Question, Superintendent," one of the commanders asked. "Are we bringing in Shiho Morobishi?"

"We wouldn't get anything out of her, so there's no point. It's enough to leave her with no clan, even if it's just twenty-four hours. That should get her attention," Sakurada replied. "While we're questioning the soldiers, we also need to keep tracking the weapons and vehicles that have been seized in the arrests we've already made. Try to connect them to the Morobishi Clan. Keep tracking phone conversations and financial records. This information will get us subpoenas for more records. The more evidence we get, the better shot we have of eroding the Morobishi Clan and ending this vendetta. Because if Shiho Morobishi is directing it like our information says she is, it's a vendetta."

"Why doesn't Sailor Moon just swoop in and take her to prison like she did Yoshiki Morobishi?" a detective asked.

"She may," Sakurada responded. "We have no information or control over the actions of the monarchy. Until and if they act we have to operate under the assumption that ending this is our responsibility. So do your jobs and run these guys to ground." Sakurada looked back at the detective who spoke. "And it's Queen Serenity, detective. Remember that."

"Yes, Ma'am," the detective replied uneasily.

* * *

The moment Shiho Morobishi's two bodyguards saw Queen Serenity materialize through the ceiling of their Oyabun's office, they reached under their jackets for their pistols. Unconcerned, Serenity came to rest in front of them. They were between her and their boss.

"Don't waste your ammunition," Shiho told them. Then she looked directly at Serenity. "We all know Sailor Moon can't be killed by mere bullets."

"May we talk?" Serenity requested, ignoring the intentional disrespect from Shiho in referring to her as 'Sailor Moon' rather than 'Queen Serenity'.

"In the same manner you 'talked' with my husband?" Shiho spat.

"Is that what this is about?" Serenity asked. "Very well, let's discuss it. Let's try to reach a peaceful solution. There was no reason for you to involve innocent people."

"It got you here, didn't it?" Shiho responded coldly. "Would you have been so willing to negotiate if I hadn't started hurting innocent people?"

Serenity's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry. I just can't ever seem to understand why people resort to naked cruelty to get what they want." She took a moment to shove down her emotions. "I assume you want your husband released."

"Among other things," Shiho replied stonily.

"Do you even understand why I put him in prison? I couldn't allow him to continue to hurt people. He wasn't going to stop. I have a responsibility to protect people, as many people as I can. I didn't want to do it. The moment he realizes that he can't go through life hurting other people just to get what he wants, I'll let him go free. But until that happens, I have to do it. I have to keep him away from other people. I care too much about them and their safety."

"I don't," Shiho responded. "I don't care an ounce for all of 'the people', strangers that have no bearing on my life in the slightest. If they all died, I wouldn't shed a tear. I only care about what's important to me: My husband, the father of my son and the provider for my family. I don't care what happens to anyone else, because none of them would care about what happened to me."

"That's not true," Serenity spoke up. "A lot of people would care. And those who wouldn't just haven't learned yet what's truly important. One day they will."

Shiho Morobishi crossed around so she was behind her desk.

"We agree to disagree," she scowled. "You said you wanted to negotiate. What did you want?"

"I want you to stop the violence," Serenity answered. "I've been told by someone I believe that you and your organization are behind it. That it was your idea and that you're supplying weapons and vehicles and sometimes the motivation. Please call it off."

Shiho smiled grimly. "And what do I get in return?"

"What do you want?" Serenity sighed, feeling some sense of deja-vu.

"I want my husband released," she said with repressed anger.

"If it will stop this . . ." Serenity began.

"I'm not finished," Shiho cut her off. Serenity looked at her with surprise. "I also want your abdication, Sailor Moon. I want you to give up your throne, as penalty for daring to disrupt my family and putting my husband in Fuchu Prison!"

"If it would stop this, I'd do it," Serenity answered. "But what assurances would I have that you and your husband wouldn't just go back to stealing from innocent people and killing them when they got in your way? When the people of Japan voted to make me Queen, they made me responsible for their lives and their safety, their happiness. I can't turn my back on that."

"Those are my terms," Shiho responded. "Refuse and the violence goes on. More innocent people get hurt. More innocents die. It keeps going and going until the people you love so dearly get sick of you and toss you into the street." She sat back in the chair behind the desk. "Of course you could throw me into prison like you threw Yoshiki in prison. But the violence didn't stop with him and it won't stop with me. Are you going to throw every Yakuza in prison? Even Fuchu isn't big enough to hold us all." She leaned forward. "And what kind of message will that send to 'the people'? Obey the great Sailor Moon or go to prison?"

"You're twisting things," Serenity shook her head.

"I haven't left you with a lot of choices, Sailor Moon!" Shiho snapped. "You can preach your message of peace and watch people die. Or you can become the opposite of what you espouse in order to keep order. Or," Shiho leaned back in the chair with satisfaction, "you can play ball and do what you're told. Don't take too long to decide."

* * *

"I understand, Superintendent," Endymion said over the phone. "Now that they've been implicated, it's really the only way to quell this outbreak of lawlessness. Carry on with your efforts. Let me know if there's anything you need. And keep me informed if the case breaks."

He hung up the phone and glanced over at Luna. The cat was standing on the corner of his desk, looking at him expectantly.

"The police have begun rounding up all known members of the Morobishi Clan," he told her. "They'll try to link whoever they can to unsolved crimes and interrogate the rest for information to implicate higher-ups."

"Welcome news, Your Majesty," the black cat replied. "When Her Majesty returns with this wife of Morobishi, it's hoped that we'll have broken the back of this 'uprising'. If we deal with this swiftly enough and decisively enough, perhaps it will discourage others from thinking they can obtain their way through violence and social unrest."

Luna caught the King smiling to himself. He noticed her curious stare.

"I was just thinking," he mused. "I wonder how many leaders who history has labeled as tyrants and despots said just the same thing."

"I hardly think myself tyrannical, Your Majesty," Luna responded stiffly, "with all due respect."

"Maybe they didn't, either," Endymion sighed. "It's hardly the start of a millennium of peace and harmony I was hoping for."

"Some people need to be dragged into being civilized," Luna scowled, "kicking and screaming. A loving parent still needs to reprimand a child when that child misbehaves - - occasionally with force. It doesn't make them any less of a loving parent."

"Maybe it's me," Endymion mused. "Maybe I was expecting too much too soon."

Alerted by Luna's stare, Endymion turned and looked out the window of his office. They saw Serenity levitating toward the palace and pass through an outer wall. Immediately Luna sprang off the desk and scampered out the door. Endymion decided to follow.

"I'm heartened to see you back, Your Majesty," Luna said, entering the Royal Quarters of the palace. Serenity was sitting on a Queen Anne chair she'd recently made for herself. Immediately the cat noticed her mood. "Was your confrontation with Mrs. Morobishi a difficult one? You seem quite subdued."

Serenity didn't answer.

"I assume you handed her over to the authorities?"

"No, Luna," Serenity replied softly, avoiding the cat's gaze. "She offered me a deal: She stops the violence and I stop being queen. I'm - - going to accept."

"Your Majesty!" gasped Luna. Endymion had arrived in time to hear as well.

"Not anymore, Luna," Serenity said. "It's best . . ."

"You will ALWAYS be Your Majesty in my eyes," Luna responded. "As to this latest bit of news, I am seriously imploring you to reconsider."

"It's for the best," Serenity replied. "Nearly half of the country didn't want me to take power. And some of that half are violently opposed to the thought. Maybe all of them. And I can't put innocent people in the middle of that just to cling to power. It's not fair to them!"

"So you give in to terrorism?"

"Luna, I've spent the last two days trying to heal the wounds of the people whose lives have been damaged and disrupted by this. I can rebuild homes, but I can't bring loved ones back to life. And I can't eliminate the fear that's in their eyes that it could happen again. By stepping down, I can ensure it won't happen again."

"You always fought bullies and aggressors in the past," Luna argued.

"Only when I didn't have a choice. I have a choice now."

"Do you?" Luna asked. "Will this - - woman - - honor her agreement? Yes, she'll scale back the violence that she escalated in the first place in order to get her way. But she won't stop. She's head of a criminal organization. Violence is their stock-in-trade. They wish to go back to the old ways because the old ways couldn't stop them. You can. Yes, you may have to violate your principles occasionally to accomplish a greater good. That is because you are the only one who can accomplish that greater good. And these criminals and petty scoundrels know this. And those people who demanded you become their leader saw that. You can't let them down, Your Majesty! You can't give in to evil! Yes, standing up to them will come with a terrible price and you will wonder if it's indeed worth paying. When you do wonder, think about what we all saw in the thirtieth century. Let that be your answer."

Luna and Endymion both stared at Serenity. For her part, the Queen sat in the chair and looked at nothing.

"I think Luna's right, Serenity," Endymion said softly. "There's many things we can do in this situation and a lot of them will be wrong. I think abdicating would be one of those."

"I have to think," Serenity said, rising from her chair. "I-I have to think."

And she disappeared into the bedroom she shared with Endymion.

"Well this won't do at all!" Luna spat and scampered from the room.

* * *

Queen Serenity hadn't been gone very long from the office of Shiho Morobishi when the phone began ringing. The gloating satisfaction on the woman's face had been quickly replaced by anger. Her two bodyguards were quick to notice. When she hung up the phone, the scowl on her face was intimidating.

"What is it, Boss?" one of the men asked.

"Two of our pachinko parlors were set on fire," she replied. "And one of our bookie operations was hit. The bookie and his assistant were killed." Shiho ground her teeth. "It has to be another Clan! Maybe Tetsunaga?"

"Or maybe it was that bunch yelling Sailor Moon's catch phrase," one of her guards suggested. "You know: 'In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you'. They've hit us before."

"Yes!" Shiho nodded, her gaze hardening. "So that's how she wants to play it? Fine."

The Oyabun snatched up her phone and hit one of the speed dial buttons. Moments later a woman answered the phone.

"This is Morobishi," she said sharply, realizing she was talking to an assistant. "Put Matsui on."

"Matsui-Sama isn't here," the woman on the phone explained. "The police took him away about a half hour ago."

"What did they arrest him for?" snapped Shiho. Her two bodyguards turned to her.

"They didn't prefer any charges. They said they wanted to question him - - about illegal possession and distribution of guns. He's at Chiyoda Station. I already called his attorney."

"I see," Shiho rumbled.

She hung up the phone. Trying all the rest of the numbers on speed dial got her varying versions of the same message: The Clan member she was calling was in police custody, either charged with something connected with the recent wave of violence or questioned in regard to it. The last number she dialed was the family attorney.

"Yes, it's all perfectly legal so far," he told her. "I've been in contact with a couple of your men myself. Acting on an informant's tip, they secured search warrants, charged who they could and are questioning everybody else. I'm certain that the timing of all this police action isn't a coincidence."

"No, I'm certain Sailor Moon had something to do with it," Shiho replied in a low, venomous voice. "What can you do to get them out?"

"Those charged will have to wait for a bail hearing," the attorney outlined. "The ones being questioned can only be held so long before they must be charged or released. You should have the majority of your people back by tomorrow, unless a few people break and incriminate others."

"Meanwhile, I'm left with almost nobody," the Oyabun fumed. "Her little strike squads could hit every business I have and there wouldn't be enough people to stop them."

"My colleagues and I are doing everything we can," the attorney replied. Shiho hung up on him. A seed of doubt began to bud within her. Perhaps Dietman Takahashi was right. Perhaps she had overplayed her hand.

"Maybe that Takahashi guy could pull some strings and get our people released," one of the bodyguards suggested. Shiho's eyes narrowed.

"I'm beginning to wonder if Dietman Takahashi is the source of the 'informant's tip' that got our people arrested in the first place," Shiho sneered. "Even if he's not, I doubt he'd take my call. And I doubt he has enough influence left to pull it off if he did take it." Shiho picked up her cell phone and began pressing in a number. "It might be wise to lay low until we can get some of our people back. Right now we're too vulnerable, both to Sailor Moon and to some enterprising rival like Tetsunaga."

Shiho listened to the phone ring. She was calling the bodyguards of her son, Kakeru, at his private school. Her instructions would be to pull the boy out of school immediately and take him to the nearest safe house.

If one of them picked up. By the sixth ring, Shiho felt a dryness form in her throat. Disconnecting, she dialed the school's administration. She got the Headmaster on the second ring.

"Yes, Morobishi-San," the Headmaster greeted her deferentially. Ignoring it, Shiho asked if her son's bodyguards were at the school. "No, they're not here. Both men were taken to the police station about an hour ago."

"Where's Kakeru?" gasped Shiho.

"In class, I assume," the Headmaster answered. "Let me send someone to get him."

The call went on hold. Two minutes passed and in that time twenty years of the woman's life. Finally the line clicked on again. Shiho leaned forward anxiously.

"I apologize, Morobishi-San," the Headmaster told her. "Your son doesn't seem to be in class. It's not like him to cut school . . ."

The phone tumbled from her hand and skidded across the desk. Shiho stared at it like it was on fire. Then her desk phone rang.

"Morobishi-San?" the voice on the phone asked. It was deep, but calm and in control. "This is Ryuji Tetsunaga. We have your son. As such, we need to discuss a few things."

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. Her Infinite Mercy

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 9: "Her Infinite Mercy"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

"You're coming in fine, Luna," Sailor Mars said over Venus's communicator. Venus could see the black cat in one frame, while Sailor Mars was visible in another frame. This indicated a conference call. "Is there trouble?"

"Yes, but not of the making of these hoodlums rampaging through the streets," Luna replied. Everyone could tell by her tone that she was absolutely livid. "You need to break off your patrols and go to the home of Shiho Morobishi. Take her into custody immediately."

"It's about time Serenity and Endymion got off the stick and closed that Clan down," Venus smirked. "Acknowledged, Luna. Hey Mars. Race you there!"

"Grow up," Mars replied and cut communications.

"Endymion must have obtained information directly implicating the Morobishi Clan in these crimes," Mercury judged. "All they had this morning was second hand testimony." Mercury executed a smooth left turn. "Odd that Serenity didn't take her into custody herself. She was headed over there this morning."

"Maybe we're backing her up," Venus replied. "Wonder what was up Luna's butt. She seemed really hacked off about something."

* * *

"Serenity?" Mamoru said softly, knocking on the door to their bedroom. He wanted to give his wife time to compose herself if she had been crying. Being forced to abdicate was a blow to her, no matter how much she protested that she didn't want to be queen in the first place. He wanted to respect her feelings, but at the same time he needed to try to talk her out of this. Abdicating in the face of blackmail was the wrong response to this situation. He wanted to make her see that.

And if it came to it, he'd just rule in her stead. After all, he never agreed to abdicate. But when there came no response from inside the room, Endymion pressed to open the door. It slid open unencumbered. No one was there to lock it.

Serenity was gone.

* * *

Passing through the ceiling, floating down from above like an angel from heaven, Queen Serenity returned to the office where Shiho Morobishi ruled in her husband's stead. She touched down gently. The woman's two bodyguards started to pull their weapons in defense of their Oyabun, but Serenity held up a hand and gently shook her head. She approached Shiho and was about to speak, about to offer her vow to abdicate in return for the safety of her people. Shiho didn't acknowledge her. She was on the phone.

"All right!" the woman howled, her voice a stew of anger and fear, frustration, hatred, and anxiety. "I'll - - turn the Clan over to you. You can have it all. Just - - don't hurt Kakeru!"

"Someone has your son?" gasped Queen Serenity. Shiho put her hand over the phone.

"Be quiet! Do you want to get him killed?" she hissed. Turning back to the phone, the woman said, "Name the place. I'll be there." She listened to the final message and then hung up. As Serenity stared at her in shock, Shiho Morobishi just stared at the blotter before her. "You must feel great relief, Sailor Moon."

"Who has your son?" Serenity persisted.

"A rival Oyabun. Ryuji Tetsunaga. He's forcing me to cede my husband's territory and gang to him." She smiled bitterly. "You'll have to deal with him from now on."

"Where do I find this man?" Serenity asked, almost demanded. Shiho looked up at her with growing malice.

"Why?" Shiho asked.

Just then, Serenity's four senshi burst into the room. Due to the recent police raids, there was little opposition. Upon their entry, Serenity whirled on them.

"Good! You're here! I'm going to need your help!" Serenity exclaimed. Then she surrounded herself and her senshi in an energy bubble and levitated them up through the ceiling of the room and up into the sky. "Venus! Can you contact Sakurada-San and find out where a Ryuji Tetsunaga lives?"

"Sure," Venus said, as confused as the others were.

"What's going on, Serenity?" Jupiter inquired.

"This man has taken Morobishi-San's son," Serenity explained. "He's forcing her to turn over her organization to him. We have to find them before he can hurt her son!"

"Got it! Thanks, Superintendent!" Venus was heard to say. "It's in Shibuya-Ku! I'll direct you!"

In his office in his fortress mansion in Shibuya-Ku, Ryuji Tetsunaga sat at his desk and savored his victory. He had chafed for years at being subordinate to Yoshiki Morobishi, but the man was too powerful and too cunning to challenge. Now Morobishi was in prison and, thanks to the Tokyo police, the Morobishi Clan was temporarily gutted. The perfect opportunity to make his move. Tetsunaga adjusted his black frame glasses, then stroked the pencil mustache on his lined lip. The man was slim and serpentine, and like a serpent he had struck when he found weakness in prey. And like a serpent, he would not let go until he had consumed them whole.

But his reverie was broken by the rising excitement among his men. Looking up at the ceiling, Tetsunaga, his office staff and his bodyguards all saw the newly minted Queen Serenity and the famous Sailor Senshi pass through and land gracefully in their midst. Guns quickly popped out of holsters.

"Venus Love Me Chain!"

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

"Shine Aqua Illusion!"

And the armed men were no longer armed, just that quickly. Tetsunaga bolted from his chair angrily.

"What is this? You'd better have a warrant!" he bellowed.

"We're the Senshi! We don't need no steenking warrants!" Venus shot back with a glint of challenge in her eye.

"You have Kakeru Morobishi," Serenity said with polite urgency. "Where are you holding him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tetsunaga sneered.

"Mars," Serenity said with fatigue.

"I can't, Serenity," Mars told her. "I haven't recovered it yet. I can't read anything."

Serenity reached down and grasped Mars' hand, bringing it up between them. She looked Mars right in the eye.

"You can do it," she told Mars, smiling sweetly and gently. "Believe."

And suddenly Mars could read the overwhelming love Serenity had for her. It was like being blindfolded and having the blindfold pulled away. Tears began to well in the senshi's eyes. She sniffed once, then turned to Tetsunaga. Startled, the Oyabun stepped back. It was like Mars was staring directly into his soul. Rattled, he stepped back again, bumped into his chair and flopped backward into it.

"I see it," Mars replied confidently.

"So do I," Serenity nodded. "Thank you, Mars. "Everyone stay here! Keep them from contacting ANYONE!"

And up she flew, through the ceiling and away on a mission of mercy.

In vile impotence, Tetsunaga glared at the senshi. Mercury had her computer out and was downloading files from his desktop. Mars and Jupiter returned his glare with mirthless ones of their own, daring him to challenge them. Venus, though, had her cell phone out. She noticed him looking at her.

"Kidnapping? Unlawful imprisonment? Extortion?" smirked Venus. "Superintendent Sakurada is going to love hearing this. If you play your cards right, you might just get a cell across from Morobishi."

"You can't do this!" fumed Tetsunaga. "I know my rights!"

Venus and Jupiter exchanged grins.

Elsewhere in Shibuya, in an innocent looking house tucked away in a quiet residential block, a fifteen year old boy sat and tried not to look at the two menacing hoods guarding him. The men were bigger than he was, tougher and more experienced. And they had the look of hardened professionals, the kind his father employed. Kakeru, still in his school uniform, knew his father was head of one of Tokyo's biggest crime clans. He knew that his mother was running the clan now that his father was in prison. And he'd known, in the back of his mind, that the possibility of this exact thing happening existed. It had followed him like his shadow for years, silent and unobtrusive, but always there when he thought about it.

And now it was happening. He tried to keep calm, tried to face the situation like he thought his father would. But the specter of death haunted him with every breath. One wrong move and they would kill him without a second thought. They'd kill him if his mother waited too long to capitulate. And even if she did, they might kill him and his mother besides, just so there was no chance of a later challenge to their claim. And even if everything went right, he still faced the end of his life as he knew it. No money, no private education, no privilege from being the son of a wealthy and influential man.

Kakeru found himself looking at one of his captors. The man noticed and stared back silently. Kakeru returned to looking at the floor. His father had harbored thoughts of Kakeru one day inheriting the Clan. Kakeru had entertained the notion himself more than once. But now, he wanted nothing whatsoever to do with the Yakuza or anything relating to it.

Then the front door opened. Kakeru looked as his two captors picked up their weapons and tensed. Was this deliverance? Or was it the end?

Framed in the door was an angel, with wings and a white gown. The door swung open at her behest, without her touching it. With the light behind her, she seemed supernatural. But as she glided into the front hall and toward them, Kakeru recognized her. It was Queen Serenity.

"I've come for Kakeru Morobishi," Serenity said gently. "Please give him to me."

"You stop right there!" one of the Yakuza hoods warned. Serenity continued to approach. Without hesitation, both men fired on her.

But to their and Kakeru's amazement, Serenity waved her hand and the bullets evaporated until they were puffs of steam. The men pulled the triggers again, but by now the guns were evaporating. Disarmed, the nearest man charged Serenity. But the Queen put her fingers to her lips and blew a kiss at him. Struck by the invisible force, the man staggered to a stop, then sank to the floor, sitting and staring with a very contented smile on his face. A similar blown kiss caused the other hood to join his partner on the floor.

Kakeru just stared at the two men. Sensing her presence, the teen looked up at the woman bending down to him. She had the largest, bluest eyes he'd ever known, silky golden blonde hair, milky smooth skin and a smile that seemed to hypnotize him. For a moment, the boy forgot how to breathe. Kakeru had a girlfriend, but right now she was forgotten. Serenity was suddenly the definition of ideal femininity to him. It was a definition he'd remember and dream about for a long, long time.

"Are you hurt?" she asked him.

"N-no," he mumbled after he remembered how to speak.

"Then let's get you home," Serenity smiled and extended a small hand. He took it and rose from the sofa he had been sitting on. Then he continued to rise until his feet were no longer touching the floor. Serenity's grip on his hand was delicate but firm. The pair levitated up into the air, passed through the ceiling and off to freedom.

Staring out at the traditional fish pond in back of the house through a side door with a picture window, Shiho Morobishi wondered if she would ever see her son or her husband again. She had failed them both: failed to protect Kakeru and failed to uphold the standard set by Yoshiki. Her son may be dead. The Clan surely was. The threat from Tetsunaga had always been there, but she had let it slip from sight in her preoccupation with destroying Sailor Moon. She knew there was the possibility that Tetsunaga would kill her and Kakeru just to eliminate their possible future antagonism.

Perhaps, in her case, it was just as well.

"Morobishi-Sama!" exclaimed one of her bodyguards. Shiho turned, looked up, and saw her son floating down to the floor after having passed through the ceiling, and in the company of the woman she'd sought to destroy. Shiho broke and ran for them. Kakeru had barely touched down when Shiho snatched him up and squeezed the boy to her.

"Kakeru!" she exclaimed. No other words could escape. The woman merely clutched her son as if she were terrified to let go, weeping openly on his shoulder. Kakeru lay his head against hers, happy to be safe and reunited with his mother.

One of the bodyguards noticed Queen Serenity standing in the background, beaming happily.

After a time, Shiho Morobishi found her voice. She let Kakeru go, shunted him behind her protectively, and faced Serenity. The woman's mood was chastened, but still slightly bitter.

"Well played, Sailor," she began, then stopped as if the words in her mouth were suddenly distasteful. "Queen Serenity. I'm now beholden to you. You win after all."

"It was never about that," Serenity offered guilelessly. "Your son needed help. I could help him. It wouldn't have been honorable to do anything else."

Shiho looked at Serenity, incredulous at first that someone could expect her to believe such feigned innocence. But the more she looked, the more she realized that it wasn't an act. Serenity had meant every word of it. This woman, whom she had sought to humble and destroy, acted to save her only son out of the generosity of her heart rather than for the currency of favor that it would gain her. She had Shiho Morobishi in the palm of her hand and refused to close it.

And just like that, Shiho Morobishi felt very small.

"I understand," Shiho replied, some regret in her tone. "Even a Yakuza wife understands honor, in our own curious way." She averted her eyes, her next question difficult for her. "But my honor demands that I am still beholden to you. What do you wish of me?"

"End the violence," Serenity said. "Stop hurting others. Stop encouraging others to hurt others. That's all I've ever asked."

Nothing about her abdication. Her position didn't matter to her. Only the welfare of others. Who was this woman?

"Done," Shiho said, locking eyes with the monarch again. "A very selfless wish, Queen Serenity." Her mouth hardened, as did her gaze. "What did you do with Tetsunaga?"

"Nothing yet," Serenity replied. Her own expression grew pained. "I suppose he'll have to be kept from people until he's learned the error of his ways, too."

"And my husband? When will he go free? That has not changed between us." Her eyes averted. "And what of me? Am I to be imprisoned like my husband? My son will have no one to care for him."

"No. You were right when you said that the prisons aren't big enough for all of you," Serenity replied. "And imprisoning everyone who makes mistakes isn't the way I want to bring peace anyway." She stepped closer and took Shiho's hands. "When you agreed to end the violence, whether from honor or duty or from the innate sense of goodness that I think is in there, you showed me that you aren't a threat. I'm trusting you to keep that promise."

"Trusting people will get you killed," Shiho advised her. "But I'm honor-bound to do so. And I have to be there for my son. This also obligates me to keep my promise and I will."

Serenity's eyes twinkled. "And maybe you can convince your husband to abandon violence and hurting people. You realized what was important when your son was threatened. Maybe you can show him the way. Then I'll be glad to let him go."

"If it's the only way to get my husband back, I will try to convince him that your way is his - - best option. But I can't guarantee he'll listen."

"If he loves you, he'll do it," Serenity smiled. "Have a long and happy life with your son."

Spreading her arms out, Serenity levitated up and through the ceiling. Shiho began to think. An end to violence would eliminate certain profitable endeavors the Clan was known for. But there was still the gambling and vice trades. They weren't violent and they were always profitable.

* * *

Two youths sped down the sidewalk of a busy section of Minato-Ku on a motorcycle, the youth in back wielding a baseball bat. People scurried from their path in fear. The pair had done this stunt once already, killing three people and injuring a dozen others. Afterwards, over stolen liquor, they laughed and joked about it and compared the heady feeling it had given them. Killing and injuring others gave them a thrill they interpreted as a sense of superiority over others. It made them think that they were in control, that they decided who lived and who died instead of fate or the gods or whoever one believed was in control. Inspiring fear in others made them feel less insecure about their place in the world.

But as they sped down the sidewalk, scattering pedestrians and swinging the bat at anyone who didn't move fast enough, they spotted one person who wasn't running. She was a woman in her early twenties, dressed like a sales person from one of the major department stores. Shoulder length black hair, slim figure, nothing gaudy, nothing special; she was indistinguishable from a thousand other Japanese working women. But she wasn't afraid. If anything, she was glaring at them, incensed by their cruelty.

Unwilling to tolerate this affront to their show of superiority, the youth guiding the motorcycle gunned it straight for her. As the rider brought the bat back to swing, as the cycle got closer, the woman stood her ground defiantly.

Then at the last moment, she stepped to the side, pushing the metal newspaper honor box she was standing next to directly into the cycle's path. The cycle's front wheel struck the box and the cycle bucked forward, pitching the two riders into the air. Both youths pin-wheeled forward and landed awkwardly on the concrete sidewalk as dozens of amazed pedestrians stared in shock. The driver struck head first, splitting his skull open, and skidded to a stop on his face. He lay motionless, in a pool of his own blood, dead.

The passenger struck shoulder first, his neck bending awkwardly, and rolled to a stop. He lay on his back, staring up at the cloudy sky above him, dazed and in shock. There was silence all around. The woman who had stopped them slowly approached, curious as to their condition.

As she approached, the spectators erupted in applause. But the praise and congratulations for the actions of the woman, actions that spared so many innocents pain and death, died away when the youth on the sidewalk began yelling.

"I can't move!" he cried out to the heavens. "I can't move! I can't feel my body! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Everyone watched as the woman who had stopped them with her quick thinking knelt down next to the panicking youth. She put her hand on his chest. He glanced fearfully at her. Everyone gasped in awe. Forgiveness for one's enemy? Wasn't that what Queen Serenity had said? Wasn't that what the media said her philosophy was? More than one in the crowd knew they wouldn't have had the strength to do what this woman was doing. But the example had been set and maybe now, they would.

"And in the name of the Moon," the woman said, her expression hardening as she brought a knife out of her purse, "I will punish you."

And she slit his throat, to the horror of everyone watching.

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. Love And Sacrifice

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 10: "Love and Sacrifice"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Luna and Endymion, with little Setsuko in his lap, turned when they heard Serenity and the senshi entering the room. Luna was about to speak, but stopped when she saw the group was in the middle of a discussion.

"So you just let her go?" Makoto asked. "After everything she's done to turn this city upside down?"

"She said she'd stop," Serenity replied. "I believe her."

"Of course you do," Rei sighed.

"That's fine for the future," Ami observed. "What about her responsibility for everything that has already occurred? Doesn't she have to be accountable for that?"

Serenity looked down. "I'm more concerned with making sure that it doesn't happen again instead of punishing what's already happened," the Queen explained. "I had Morobishi-San's husband and that other man, Tetsunaga, imprisoned because I couldn't depend on them not hurting someone again, not to punish them. I think I can trust Morobishi-San, so I forgive her."

"Well one thing's for certain," Minako chimed in. "With all the arrests the police made of Morobishi and Tetsunaga Clan members, the streets have to be a lot quieter. Though I won't say the same about the prisons. So are the patrols done?"

"There shouldn't be a need for them," Serenity answered.

"Great! That means I can call Kyou for a date tonight! Bye, all. I've got to go get gorgeous-er!" And Minako scooted out of the room.

"'Gorgeous-er' isn't even a word," muttered Ami.

"But you were going to Madam Morobishi's to haul her in," Makoto asked. "What changed your mind?"

"I wasn't going there to arrest her," Serenity said, openly confused.

"But Luna sent us there to haul her in," Makoto said. "We thought it was your idea."

Everyone turned to the black cat.

"I confess," Luna replied, her eyebrow arched and her tone unapologetic. "It was solely my own initiative."

"Luna?" Serenity gaped. "Why?"

"Your Majesty, you were about to make one of the gravest mistakes of your life," Luna explained. "I took it upon myself to do what you should have done. Capitulation may gain you short-term peace, but at the expense of long-term pain, suffering and death. You weren't going to end it, so I was going to end it for you." The cat straightened up proudly. "I realize I exceeded my authority. If you wish it, you may have my resignation."

"Of course not," Serenity replied. "Luna, what would I do without you? I forgive you." She thought a moment. "But only if you stop calling me 'Your Majesty'!"

"I'd just as soon resign," scowled the cat.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" fumed the Queen.

"Your resignation won't be necessary, Luna," Endymion interceded calmly. "But please don't make a habit of this. After all, Serenity is the queen, not you."

"Quite right, Your Majesty," Luna nodded. "I apologize for my actions. You may consider me properly put in my place."

Through this, Ami, Rei and Makoto looked on, mystified by the scene. None of them knew just how close the reign of Queen Serenity had come to ending.

* * *

The restaurant was intimate and moderately priced. The cuisine was attractive, though secondary to the company. Minako Aino was dressed in a clinging black dress with a low neckline and a high hemline, black hose and heels. She wore her short cut black wig because she was even more of a celebrity since Serenity's ascension than she was before. Kyou Byakugou wore slacks and a sports jacket, his shirt collar open.

When they first dated, he had apologized for not having anything more formal. By now, she didn't expect to see him in anything more formal. This was Kyou: open, physical, rough around the edges but honest. The look fit him. And Minako had to confess that she was more taken with what was under the clothes than the clothes themselves.

Their conversation had covered his life and hers with one exception: Her life as Sailor Venus. On previous dates the subject had come up, but Minako sensed a discomfort in Kyou when faced with the fact that she was Sailor Venus. He didn't openly object to her other identity or what she did. But she sensed he was uncomfortable with it. As they found they had other interests, she let it drop.

Minako was in the midst of relating her meeting with a film producer when the restaurant duty manager came up and leaned in.

"Byakugou-San?" he asked. Kyou nodded. "There is a telephone call asking for you. If you wish, you may take it in my office."

"I wonder what that could be," Kyou puzzled. "Excuse me, Minako."

"Don't be long," Minako replied. As he walked away, she stole a glance at him. She might not know art, but she knew what she liked.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" a voice came from behind her. Minako didn't have to look to see who it was, but looked anyway.

"What are you doing here, Ace?" she scowled.

"Having dinner," he smiled and pointed to a far table. "I find the food here very good for the price. And these days I'm forced to watch my funds a little more closely."

"Why don't you just steal it?" Minako shot back.

"Because I don't do that anymore," Ace replied with controlled calm. "I gave it up because it offends you." His smile returned. "Even in disguise, you are the most beautiful woman in the universe."

"Could you soft soap me another time?" Minako sighed. "I'm on a date and I'd prefer you didn't ruin it."

"As you wish," Ace said graciously. "Forgive the intrusion, but the pull of your radiance is often more than I can withstand. I assume you are dining with Byakugou-San."

"Yes," Minako hissed. "Now buzz off."

"Of course. I have no wish to make him angry."

But it was too late. Kyou had seen them and hurried over. Minako could see he was upset. She turned, hoping that Ace was leaving. But Ace stood his ground.

"You're that Takeda guy, aren't you?" Kyou rumbled angrily.

"You know me. I'm honored," Ace replied. "I assume Minako has spoken of me?"

"She said she doesn't want anything to do with you, but that you won't leave her alone."

"I merely wished to greet an old," and he glanced at Minako with sly humor, "acquaintance."

"OK, you've said your piece," Kyou said stonily. "Now go."

"Kyou," Minako tried to mediate.

"No need to be upset," Ace replied with confident ease. "She's in your company, not mine. If your relationship is as strong as ours was, you don't really have anything to worry about from me. Do you."

"Move," Kyou seethed, "on."

Ace smiled at him. Suddenly Kyou lashed out, his right fist connecting with Ace's jaw and dropping the man. Dinner patrons gasped. Minako shot out of her chair. Ace lay on the floor, stunned. But it wasn't enough for Kyou. He moved in and savagely kicked Ace in the abdomen. Ace doubled over while still on his side and just lingered on the floor in pain.

"OK, Kyou! You've proved your point!" Minako shouted, kneeling protectively next to Ace. Kyou towered over them, ready to assault Ace again should an opening arise. "Kyou! Enough!"

"Sir!" the manager said, inserting himself between Kyou and Ace. "You're going to have to leave!"

Kyou stared at the manager, some of his rage dissipating. Finally he stepped away and began to head for the door. But he stopped and turned, expecting Minako to join him. Instead, she looked up at him with unexpected contempt. That in turn inspired a look of contempt in him. After a few seconds, Kyou turned and headed for the door. The manager knelt down next to Minako.

"Should I call for an ambulance?" he asked.

"No," Minako said after some hesitation. "Call a taxi. I'll get him home."

* * *

Superintendent Sakurada sat at her desk and studied the crime statistics from the previous day. The wave of violence and mayhem that had swept the city recently had abated, hopefully for more than just the night. With a majority of the Morobishi and Tetsunaga Clans in jail, that was to be expected. Couple that with the notice from the palace that Queen Serenity had reached an accord with Shiho Morobishi to end instigation of this violence, and Sakurada was cautiously optimistic the downward trend would last.

Among the statistics was a report from the precinct captain of Minato-Ku. The report outlined a second recent trend, that of several murders committed that didn't fit the pattern of the others. They were significant in two ways: The murder victims were all said by witnesses to be either known criminals or people in the process of committing a crime. And the perpetrators all said the same thing as they committed the murders.

As the suspect descriptions were different in each report, the precinct captain concluded that this was the work of an organized gang or perhaps a vigilante group. Sakurada read the report word for word, then looked over the copies of the incident reports that accompanied the report. When she was done, the woman sat back in her chair, troubled.

Galvanized to action after thinking for a few moments, Sakurada leaned forward and picked up her desk phone. She brought out her rolodex and brought up the phone number of the precinct captain for the Minato-Ku district.

And she hadn't even gotten to the most disappointing report of all.

* * *

"What, in your opinion, is the cause of the recent rise in violent crime in Tokyo, Dietman?" the interviewer asked. It was an evening public affairs show that ran on Japanese television.

"Well of course, all sorts of contributing factors go into crime," Dietman Takahashi responded. "But given the rise in violence corresponding to the ascension of King Endymion and Queen Serenity to power, and more importantly their unilateral altering of key government procedures, I think the link isn't too illogical a jump. A disregard of the structure of a democratic government and an attitude that someone is free to ignore any rule or law that is deemed 'inconvenient' filters down from leaders to those being led."

"You make the Japanese people sound like sheep," the interviewer commented.

"Not at all," Takahashi smiled. "But many people take their cues from celebrities in particular or society in general. And I don't think anyone could deny that Queen Serenity is perhaps the most famous person in the country. So when she acts in such a reckless and cavalier manner, it's bound to have an influence on others. Being new to ruling, I imagine this sort of effect is something she never considered when she acted so precipitously."

"Still, the effect has been localized to just the Tokyo Metro area and some of the outlying prefectures," the interviewer challenged. "Why is that, if Queen Serenity's behavior is a contributing factor?"

"A good question," Takahashi replied. "I'm sure there are some other factors involved, such as the rest of the country being less likely to follow the example of Tokyo residents. The point is we've undergone very radical changes in recent months. This instability, fueled by radical departures from the normal way of governing, can't do anything other than create instability in society. And societal instability is a breeding ground for violence and anti-social behavior."

"Could there be a political motive behind this?"

"I haven't heard of any," Takahashi responded, "but at the moment I wouldn't rule anything out. The new monarchy was elected by a narrow margin. Unrest over such a defeat isn't unheard of in our history, though I would hope that the people of Japan would respect the process of government enough to refrain from attempts at violent overthrow. That isn't the way to effect change."

"Artemis, turn that drivel off," Luna scowled. She and Artemis were crouched on a table in front of his laptop, scouring the news and police reports for signs that Shiho Morobishi was living up to her end of her agreement with Serenity. The television played in the background. "Or at the very least change the channel. I am sick to death of listening to Dietman Takahashi lay every negative occurrence in history short of the Hiroshima bombing at the feet of Her Majesty."

"The TV news might hear something before the police. Just trying to cover all the bases," Artemis replied. "So far reports are way down from previous evenings. Of course, the police have jailed about eighty percent of the Morobishi and Tetsunaga Clans. I imagine that's part of it." He glanced over at his partner. "So I hear you got your tail flicked by King Endymion today."

"Nothing that wasn't deserved," Luna answered distantly. "Although I'd do it again under the same circumstances."

"Was Serenity really going to abdicate?"

"QUEEN Serenity, Artemis, if you won't use 'Her Majesty'," Luna corrected. "Our station does not allow for such informality, despite Her Majesty's stubborn views to the contrary." The black cat grew solemn and just a bit sad. "It wasn't an action I'm particularly proud of, going behind the back of Her Majesty and openly defying her wishes. But it was too important. She was about to throw everything away! Somehow, someone must get through to Her Majesty that surrender in the face of intimidation is rarely a better option. I cherish her reverence for life. It's one of the qualities that puts her above us all. But there is merit to the philosophy of 'better to die free than live a slave'."

"Well if anyone can get through to her, you can," Artemis offered. Luna glanced at him tenderly.

"Thank you, Artemis," she said and rubbed her chin against his.

"There have been rumors of some attacks actually being made in the name of Queen Serenity herself," the interviewer continued. "People attacking others and invoking Sailor Moon's old catch phrase. Any comment on that?"

"Random violence is intolerable in a civilized society," Takahashi replied. "So is vigilantism. And if there are people acting as vigilantes, it's a terrible thing and must be stopped. And if they're working at the behest of the monarchy, then it's a chilling turn of events." He paused for effect. "I don't want to believe it, but then Sailor Moon started out as a vigilante herself."

"Did you hear that, Artemis?" gasped Luna.

"I'm searching the police reports now," the white cat told her. "You'd better let King Endymion know about this. If it's true, we've got to put a stop to it."

Bounding off of the table, Luna scampered out the door while Artemis pecked on his laptop intently.

* * *

Ace lay in bed, his shirt open. A cold pack was wrapped around his abdomen with a shirt she had found. Minako sat beside the bed, holding a cold compress to his jaw. The man was obviously worse for the wear, but he didn't show any signs of fever or abdominal pain beyond the nasty bruise on his stomach, so she felt safe in concluding that the kick Kyou had delivered hadn't ruptured any internal organs. It probably helped that Ace possessed some nicely maintained abs.

She lightly glided her hand along them. Very nicely maintained. Then she glanced at Ace, saw him smiling and withdrew her hand.

"May I thank you for getting me home," Ace said softly, "and caring for me like this? I know I've done little to deserve your consideration."

"I'd do the same for a dog hit by a car," Minako replied distantly. "Kyou didn't have any right to kick you like that." She met his gaze with a cynical smirk. "I'm not saying you don't deserve it. Only that he didn't have the right to give it to you."

"And how did I deserve it?" Ace asked light-heartedly, enjoying the verbal fencing despite the pain he felt.

"I saw what you were doing," Minako told him, the corners of her mouth turned up. "The non-threatening, conciliatory words counterpointed with the smirk, the twinkle in your eye and the refusal to back off. You were baiting him."

"If so, he snapped very readily," Ace replied. "Byakugou-San seems to have a bit of a violent temper."

"Yeah," Minako said softly. She removed the compress from Ace's jaw and swabbed his forehead. Then she switched gears and looked around. "Not much of a place you've got. Pretty big comedown from your office at the studio."

"It seems much brighter now," Ace offered with that cocky smile of his. Minako returned the expression with a cynical look and pressed the compress over his mouth. Ace gently grasped her wrist and returned the compress to his jaw. "I confess, Minako. I was baiting him."

"Was it worth it?" Minako asked, slightly disappointed.

"It got you to see the side of him that you refused to see. It shattered your rose-colored view of him. Got you to look at him in the harsh light of reality rather than in light filtered through lust." Ace shifted painfully in bed. "I had to open your eyes."

"By getting the crap beaten out of you?" Minako asked in astonishment.

"You made that mistake once," Ace said, this time with none of the cocky pretense that always seemed to color his every word. Minako suddenly flashed back to her last dream about Silver Millennium.

"He's not Kunzite," Minako said with more urgency than she planned.

"He's close enough," Ace replied. His hand reached up and gently caressed the side of Minako's face. "I couldn't let you make that mistake again. I love you too much."

Minako just stared at him, wanting not to believe him and finding herself failing.

"Maybe we will never be together, though I'll never stop trying," Ace continued, his hand coming to rest on the back of her neck. "As long as you're not with him. Manabe-San was 'settling'. This man is a mistake who will hurt you."

"That's why you came back?"

"I came back for you," Ace told her. "Protecting you from him was just another mission I took on."

Her hand came up and covered his forearm. Suddenly, impulsively because she had always been a creature of impulse, Minako bent down and kissed him. A familiar rush swelled in her head. Their mouths parted, the two people lingering within intimate distance. Minako pulled back just enough to register once more that he was Ace, she was Minako and the two of them were experiencing rising pulse rates and a flood of tactile pleasure.

She pressed her lips to his again.

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. Disciples Of The Moon

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 11: "Disciples Of The Moon"  
A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

 _The Palace of Silver Millennium shone like a beacon across the dim light of the surface of the Moon. The stones caught the waning light of the sun and reflected it, making the palace and the ground a warm and inviting oasis amid the darkness outside the dome._

 _Sitting by a fountain in the center courtyard was a lovely young woman in a bright golden gown that sparkled in the light reflected from the palace. Between the dress and her golden hair held by a bright red ribbon, she seemed the epitome of spontaneous gaiety at first glance. But the young woman stared at the marble walk from her seat near the fountain, she was anything but gay._

" _What's wrong, Princess Venus?"_

 _The Princess glanced to her left and found Princess Mars sitting beside her. Mars had always been her opposite: Dark and mysterious where she was an open book, with curious insights and abilities that none of the other Guardians to the Princess possessed. Venus had always found her distant and aloof. They got along, but she wasn't as close to Mars as she was to Princess Usagi. Yet there she was, showing concern._

" _Is it the trouble we've been having with the Earth people?" Mars ventured._

" _In a round about way," Venus sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you this . . ."_

" _Does it involve Kunzite?" Mars asked. Venus gave her a look of surprise._

" _Does everybody know about me and Kunzite?"_

" _Not everyone," Mars shifted uncomfortably. "I - - have ways of knowing things. I'm sorry for prying."_

" _As long as you know," Venus shrugged. "Kunzite decided to seek out Beryl the witch woman, to 'deal with her before she becomes too great a threat'. He worried that Beryl was a threat to Prince Endymion. Prince Endymion means everything to him. Kunzite is very loyal. It's one of his good traits. Thinking he can beat any foe," and Venus sighed, "not so much."_

" _Was he defeated?" Mars asked._

" _I don't know," Venus replied with a trembling voice. "I begged him not to go, not to seek out trouble. I told him that Beryl was stronger than she looked." Venus looked down. "We got into a big fight over it. We seem to fight a lot more easily these days. And Kunzite just won't back down when he believes in something. It became more and more heated."_

" _Did he hit you?" Mars asked._

" _No," Venus shook her head. "He has too much honor for that. But we didn't part on very good terms. And when he looked back as he marched off to war, I could see he was - - sorry about a lot of things."_

" _He seems kind of coarse," Mars suggested. "Maybe you're better off."_

" _I sure don't feel better off." In frustration, Venus ran her hands through her hair. "I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe running away and just - - experiencing each other - - just losing yourself in that much magnificent masculinity isn't wrong and greedy and short-sighted. That maybe," and Venus paused to compose herself, "that if there were no more wars to fight, no more battles to win, that he could stop and be that wise, witty, wonderful man again, the one I fell in love with by the moonlight filtering in through the temple columns."_

 _The two princesses sat by the fountain as the last of the sunlight passed over the horizon and the automated torches sprang to life to illuminate the courtyard._

" _So you say you can see things?" Venus spoke up. "Can you find out how he is? It's been so long..."_

" _You still love him?" Mars asked._

 _Venus sighed. "I suppose. It hurts, but I know now it's never going to work. We're too different. We want too many different things. And him leaving me to go take on Beryl showed me that, I guess. That I'm not the most important thing in his life." She bit her lip. "But I do care about him. And I want him to be all right - - even if it's in the arms of another woman."_

" _Yes, I can show you," Mars said reluctantly. "You may not like what you see."_

" _I'd rather know," Venus responded. "You can get over bad news. You can never get over not knowing."_

 _Mars rose and grasped Venus's hands, urging her to her feet. The pair walked over to one of the torches illuminating the area. Cupping her hands on either side of the torch, Mars whispered a prayer that Venus couldn't make out. She looked into the fire._

 _Then she put her hand to her mouth and gasped in shock. In the fire was an image of Beryl, but she was different than the Beryl Venus knew. Her skin was pale with a faint fuchsia tint to it that gave her an inhuman look. Her ears were pointed. Her incisors were enlarged. Her eyes were golden and unearthly. In her hand she clutched four crystal gemstones, one of them larger than the rest. It was light violet, a strong-looking crystal, and its facets were bold and rough._

 _Kunzite._

" _I told him," Venus squeaked out, a tear trickling down her cheek._

* * *

Minako woke from the dream of Silver Millennium to the sound of pounding on the front door of the small, shabby apartment that Ace had rented. She looked over to the spot on the bed next to her. No one was there.

"Of course," Minako sighed. "Hit and run Ace strikes again."

"Police Department! Open the door!" came a voice from behind the door, followed by more pounding.

"OK, I'm coming!" Minako shouted, hastily donning her blouse and skirt from last night. "Now I see why he didn't hang around."

She went to the door, clutching the blouse closed. At the door were four Tokyo Metro Police officers.

"We have an arrest warrant for Saijou Takeda," one of the officers told her. "Is he here?"

"You're about," and Minako glanced at a clock on the wall, "four minutes to six hours too late."

"We'll just search the place anyway, if you don't mind," and they pushed inside.

"Sure. Knock yourself out. I'll brew us some tea," scowled Minako.

"Say," one of the officers said, pointing uncertainly at her, "aren't you Minako Aino?"

"I'd have to be," Minako replied. "Nobody else would be this big of a sucker."

* * *

Rei sat out on the balcony facing the harbor and attempted to meditate. Meditation had never been easy for her, going back to the time when she was twelve and desperate to impress her grandfather. Emotions always got in the way. Even now they got in the way. They were just different emotions.

After what had happened in the office of the Yakuza Oyabun, Rei thought she had turned the corner. She thought she was getting past the mental and emotional scars that two years of brutal captivity had left on her. But it hadn't. Rei had adjourned to the balcony because her room in the shrine had begun closing in on her again. It wasn't much better on the balcony. All she could sense was the crisp sea air blowing in from the harbor.

And cookies?

Looking up, Rei saw Makoto standing in the doorway to the balcony, holding a plate. She seemed unsure of herself.

"Uh, I didn't want to interrupt," Makoto offered meekly. Rei waved her to a seat.

"You didn't interrupt anything," Rei sighed. "Nothing except another failure."

"It'll come," Makoto assured her. She set the plate down between them. "I made cookies. They're good for the soul."

Rei looked down, but her mouth had curled into a grin. Self-consciously she reached over and plucked one.

"It's good to know you can still smile," Makoto told her. "Is what happened to you still bothering you?"

"It's more," Rei replied after biting the cookie. "Oh, these are good!"

"What else?"

"Remember when we were in the Oyabun's office?" Rei related.

"When Serenity took your hand and told you to believe?" Makoto asked. "And then the both of you began to glow silver?"

"Did we? Makes sense, I guess," Rei mumbled. "When she told me to believe, I did. Because, you know, it's her. And it worked! I had my sight back! I was as good as I ever was! I read things in that man's heart - - powerful, terrible things, things that he never wanted anyone to see ever!"

"That's not your fault," Makoto told her.

"No, I know that," Rei assured her. "When I had my sight, I would see things that I wasn't looking for, that I had no business seeing. After a while, I became a confidant to perfect strangers, keeping secrets they didn't know I knew because I shouldn't have been privy to them, but I was." Rei looked down at the cookie in her hand. "A person can grow accustom to a lot of things."

Makoto listened, shunting aside her curiosity about which one of her own secrets Rei might know.

"The problem is, the moment Serenity broke contact with me, my sight vanished again," Rei continued. "In fact, since I returned to Earth, the only two times I've had my full sight has been when I'm in contact with Serenity." She looked at Makoto. "Is Serenity doing it?"

Makoto shrugged. "Maybe indirectly. I don't know because I really don't know what Serenity has become or what she's tapped into with that Silver Crystal of hers. Ami could probably give you a scientific explanation. I don't think Serenity's giving you the ability to see like you did. At least I hope not."

"I don't think it's that," Rei sighed. "Knowing her, she wouldn't tease me with it. She'd outright give it to me and think she was helping."

"There you go," smiled Makoto. "So look at the bright side."

"There's a bright side?"

"Yeah," Makoto persisted. "You know it's still there. You know it's not gone for good. You just have to find a way to get past what happened to you and get back to where you were. Then it'll come back to you."

"You think?" Rei asked, rubbing the knuckle of one hand with the thumb of her other.

"Yeah," Makoto nodded, then nibbled on one of her cookies. "It's like when you first saw these cookies. The way you've been lately, I thought you'd forgotten how to smile. But when I told you they were good for the soul, you proved a smile was still in there." She picked up a cookie and offered it to Rei. "Here, have another one. Remember, they're good for the soul."

"Maybe," Rei said, her mouth turning up again, "but they're bad for my waistline."

"I think you've got room to indulge yourself," Makoto said. "You're still the senshi everyone lusts after."

"Don't let Minako hear that," Rei actually joked. "And don't sell yourself short. Remember, I used to be able to see what's in their hearts."

Makoto responded with feigned shock. But she continued to offer the cookie. Rei gave in and took it.

"You know what's another thing that's good for the soul?" Makoto ventured.

"Are you a priest all of a sudden?" Rei asked. "OK, what?"

"Smiling," Makoto replied and took another bite.

And for a moment Rei felt her sight peek out from behind its black shroud. To honor her mentor, she took a bite of the cookie.

* * *

"And the report is that she exclaimed your catch phrase from your Sailor Moon days as she, well," Luna hesitated. Then she steeled herself. "When she - - took the life - - of the young hoodlum."

Serenity's eyes became saucers. She put her hands to her mouth in shock. Ami, Rei and Makoto, all of whom were in the room with her, glanced at their friend with sympathy. Luna looked on, heartbroken that she had to be the one to deliver the news. The door opened and she glanced back at it. Artemis was entering. He saw what was unfolding and his heart went out to the Queen as well.

"This is terrible," Serenity whispered, reeling from the news. "We have to find her. We have to stop her! Now!"

"Well she may not be acting alone," Artemis told her. Serenity grew even more agitated. "I've sifted through the police reports for the time of the upswing in violence in the city. There's four other reports of grisly, violent murders where your old catch phrase was heard. Three of the victims were juvenile delinquents or petty criminals. The fourth was a Korean national working in Tokyo. He was found beaten to death in an alley behind a row of houses. They're linked because someone scrawled your catch phrase in chalk on the wall above him."

"Why are we just now hearing about this?" Ami asked.

"There were so many violent acts, petty assaults, robberies and such, that the reports just got lost in the flood," Artemis explained. "The police are just now beginning to notice."

"We have to do something," Serenity shook her head. Everyone was anxious about how she was taking this.

"We will, Hon'," Makoto assured her. "No matter what it takes to track this down."

"But why? Why would anybody do this?"

"The obvious answer is to further besmirch your good name," Luna assessed. "Like the campaign being run by that Morobishi woman, this is a plot to destroy your popularity with the people and engineer change of regime. You mustn't give in to it, Your Majesty."

Makoto noticed Ami in thought. "You figure something, Ames?"

"Um, no. Luna is likely correct," Ami said thoughtfully. "I'm just curious as to why the victims were all, with the exception of the Korean gentleman, criminals or social outsiders. If the Korean gentleman, who I'm assuming has no criminal past, is to be included in this, he is an anomaly that keeps a rational counter-argument to Luna's theory from forming."

"We'll find out why later!" Serenity barked. "We have to stop it first and then find out why!"

"Agreed," Endymion said, entering the room. "And I think the police can offer us some help in that regard. Superintendent Sakurada informs me that they've arrested a suspect in one of the murders. Maybe we can find out something from this suspect."

"Well, let's go!" Makoto exclaimed. Serenity was already out of her seat.

Two police detectives sat in an interrogation room with their suspect. She was a woman in her early twenties, dressed like a sales person from one of the major department stores. Shoulder length black hair, slim figure, nothing gaudy, nothing special; she was indistinguishable from a thousand other Japanese working women. Yet she was suspected of slitting the throat of a twenty year old who had fallen from a motorcycle and been paralyzed - - admittedly after using that motorcycle and a baseball bat to assault people on a sidewalk.

The interrogation was going nowhere. No matter what questions they asked, no matter what facts they presented, no matter what promises or threats they made, she sat there staring ahead with an eerie - - serenity. Interrupting the interrogation was the opening of the door to the room. At the door was Superintendent Sakurada. She gestured the two detectives out of the room.

"How are you coming?" Sakurada asked.

"She won't talk. She won't even blink," reported one detective, a wiry veteran with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "It's almost like she's seen Buddha or something."

"She's still good for it, Superintendent," the other detective added. "We've got a couple of witness reports describing her as the perp. And we're waiting on forensics to match the blood on the knife in her purse to our - - man, I hate to call that guy 'victim'."

"So letting an outside party question her won't sink your case?" Sakurada asked.

"Depends on who's asking, I guess," the first detective shrugged.

"Bring her out into the squad room," Sakurada told them.

The prisoner was handcuffed and led out into the main work area for the detectives. Immediately the two detectives noticed how hushed the room was. They were about to remark on it when they saw why. King Endymion and Queen Serenity were standing by one of the desks, flanked by three women the detectives assumed were her senshi. The entourage turned to them as they entered.

Suddenly their prisoner ripped away from them and charged the Queen. Everyone in the squad room lunged to cut her off, while Makoto and Rei placed themselves between this woman and Serenity. But when she got ten feet from the Queen, the woman fell to her knees and pressed her forehead to the floor.

"Queen Serenity!" the woman gasped reverently. "You who saved us all in our darkest hour! You who brought us life when we teetered upon the brink of death! You who is our beacon of light in the darkness and who shall lead the deserving to everlasting salvation! I am blessed to be in your presence!"

"Um, get up," Serenity mumbled, bending down and touching the woman's arm. She looked up at Serenity with a joy that no one could recall seeing in that intensity. "Get up, please," Serenity urged her.

She directed the woman into a chair, then knelt down before her. The woman was mesmerized by Serenity, enraptured by her.

"Why?" Serenity asked. "Why did you do it?"

The woman seemed puzzled at first. "They were hurting people," she answered finally. "They delighted in hurting people. I could see it in their faces. This is against your will, great Serenity. They had to be stopped so they wouldn't hurt anyone else. Koyabashi-Kun has told us. The great Serenity shall lead us to eternal peace and prosperity. It is our job to lead a life of virtue worthy of your great example. And it is our job to stop those who would go against your word and your law."

"This Koyabashi-Kun," Ami spoke up cautiously. "Where may we find him?"

"Do you wish to speak with him, great Queen Serenity?" the woman gasped happily. "He would be so very grateful! He lives to honor you and he has brought others like me into the fold so that we may aid you in your quest to bring light into this darkened world!"

"Yes," Ami said. "Her Majesty, Queen Serenity, would be very grateful for this information. She wishes to meet all who share her vision of peace."

Serenity just stared in horror.

Concluded in Chapter 12


	12. Show Them The Light

LOVE AND OBSESSION  
Chapter 12: "Show Them The Light"  
By Bill K.

* * *

Over the city, a silver bubble of energy could be seen. No one knew what it was precisely, but from the silver color and the warmth and good feeling radiating off of it, many below guessed that Queen Serenity was traveling overhead. And they would be right, as far as their thinking went.

Inside the bubble was Queen Serenity. Also inside the bubble was King Endymion, as well as Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter. The bubble levitated over a residential area in the western portion of Azabu-Juuban. Row after row of white, oval dwellings, looking like eggs in a tray, were below them, the grid broken up by fruit trees thick with fruit and patches of vegetables in yards.

"Do you see it, Endymion?" Serenity asked anxiously as she guided the bubble - - a little too anxiously. "Do you see it?"

"Not yet, but we're on the right track," Endymion assured her. His arms were on her shoulders to brace her as she expended energy.

"Are you sure? You know my sense of direction!"

"I recognize some street markers," he told her. "We're coming up on it."

Mercury was dividing her attention between her computer and Serenity. "I've got the building on scanner," she announced. "I'm detecting fifteen life forms in the building."

"Big family," Jupiter commented.

"These are all adults," Mercury corrected her. "Possibly a meeting of some sort." She glanced sideways at Serenity. "Perhaps it would be best if we could go into the situation invisible until we can determine what the situation is. Would that be possible for you, Serenity?"

And with a thought the bubble and everyone in it disappeared.

"Hey! I can't see!" exclaimed Jupiter.

"Serenity, you're going to have to leave our eyes unaffected," Mercury spoke up. A moment later, Mercury could see four sets of eyes hovering around her where she recalled the others had been. "Very good. There's the building straight ahead. It's someone's home, apparently. Pass us through the wall and set us down at the back of the room. And remember, everyone must be quiet until the situation can be properly assessed."

The five gently set down by the back wall of a living room. Fourteen people were gathered in the room, while one man stood on a chair and addressed them. He was gaunt, genetically gaunt rather than gaunt from lack of food. His black hair was thick and unkempt, as if it had a mind of its own. He wore a light blue polo shirt and dark slacks. Much of his image was ordinary and in certain lights he might look eerie.

But his eyes were different. Mercury noticed it immediately. His eyes were fervent, ablaze with the excitement of belief. He scanned the audience from side to side and held them all with his gaze and the intensity of his words. Some of the assembled knew him as Genta Koyabashi. They all knew him as Koyabashi-Kun.

"Queen Serenity is the word!" he exhorted. "Queen Serenity is the way! She has rescued us from death! Pulled us back from oblivion! Wrapped us in her divine cloak of love and joy and granted us life again!"

"Yes!" exclaimed a few in the group while the others listened happily.

"Serenity is our leader!" he continued, his joy overflowing upon them. "She guides us to a bright, brilliant future where there will be no war!"

"No war!" echoed some of the group.

"No suffering!"

"No suffering!"

"No pain!"

"No pain!"

"She offers us a utopia, from nothing more than the kindness and generosity of her heart! She asks only that we follow! And we must follow!" he exhorted them. "We must accept her word as truth! We must accept her way as the only way! We must take her teachings into our hearts and live by them! For her way is the only way that will deliver us from degradation and destruction to that gleaming crystal utopia she has promised us!"

"The only way!" more of the audience echoed.

"But there is blight out there!" he warned, his expression changing in an instant from joyous to dour. "Not everyone accepts the gift that great Queen Serenity has given us! Not everyone believes in her divine future! We must show them! Teach them that she is right! Convince them that she is the path to heaven! Guard against them sabotaging our promise of peace!"

"Make them see!"

"And there are those who spurn her teachings," Koyabashi said gravely. "They reject her path and seek out their vices: gambling, alcohol and ways of the flesh! They sneer at her gift and do violence against their fellow man to satisfy their needs and urges! Or they simply do not understand because they are not of Nippon and are inferior!" He paused a moment to let it sink in. "They are an anchor, a stone around our necks! They drag us down! They block our path to salvation! They prey upon us like sharks in the ocean!"

"No!" several of the audience exclaimed.

"This is too important, too precious a gift to be barred from!" Koyabashi continued. "We can't allow these people to block us from the divine glory of Queen Serenity's virtue! These people must be eradicated! Carved out like the cancer they are! We must seek them out and destroy them before they can destroy us! In the name of Queen Serenity, we must eradicate them all! Eradicate them from the face of this planet!"

"NO!" a woman cried.

Everyone turned to the back of the room where the sound had come from. Several gasps went up. Standing there where no one had been before was Queen Serenity, with her husband and senshi. Everyone was shocked and amazed that she was suddenly there, whole and in the flesh. And they would have exclaimed their joy had it not been for the look of absolute horror painted on her face, a look that crushed their joy and stilled their tongues.

"Q-Queen Serenity," Genta Koyabashi whispered. A smile sprouted on his face as he climbed down from the chair. He cautiously approached her. "You have come to us. You honor us all with your presence, Your Majesty. Since the moment you freed us from the grip of death, I have sung your praises. And I have recruited others, others who believe as you do in the glorious future you have promised us. We stand here as your loyal and obedient . . ."

"What have you been telling them?" Serenity asked, her face still a mask of utter horror.

"What?" Koyabashi murmured, overcome with confusion.

"Eradicate them all? You're encouraging people to kill," Serenity asked, "in my name?"

"We merely do your work, Your Majesty," Koyabashi replied tentatively. "Protect the innocent. Punish the guilty. Make certain that they can never prey upon the weak again."

"No!" howled Serenity. "That's not what I asked of you all! Protect the innocent, yes! We all have to protect each other and look out for each other! But not punish! And certainly not kill! Killing is wrong! There can never be a justification for it - - ever!"

Several among the gathered began murmuring among themselves. Koyabashi looked at Serenity with an expression of betrayal.

"But you . . .!"

"I never sought to kill anyone," Serenity told him, her eyes tearing. "I've only ever sought to protect people. If someone I opposed died, it's only because I couldn't save them!" She sniffed. "No one has the right to execute another person. No one has the right to deny someone the chance to be saved! To redeem their life and come back to the fold! To be human again." She reached out and grasped Koyabashi's hands. "Because if you kill that person, they lose that chance forever. And they lose so much more. And you've lost so much more."

"No," Koyabashi moaned, struggling in the face of disillusion. "They are predators! They are blights! They must be stamped out before they can turn upon us or they will overwhelm us all! You saw them! You saw how they attacked at the first sign of weakness!"

"I saw them," Serenity replied gently. "They were lost. They weren't lost causes."

"They are ANIMALS!" Koyabashi snarled, ripping his hands away from Serenity's. "Mad dogs that need to be put down!"

"They act from ignorance and fear," Serenity countered. "They need to be taught a different way."

"False god!" Koyabashi snapped, his eyes blazing with fury.

The eyes of everyone in the room were riveted on him and Serenity. Suddenly Koyabashi lunged forward, his hand raised like he was going to strike the Queen. But he never got the chance. Endymion was in between them in an eye blink. He seized Koyabashi's wrist in a grip of iron. Twisting, Endymion forced the man to his knees. Koyabashi struggled for a moment to escape, then just seemed to sag, his chin falling to his chest.

"I never claimed to be a god," Serenity answered. "I asked for you to take the ideas of peace and kindness into your heart, not me. I'm just the messenger."

"You are a liar and a deceiver!" he seethed, hurt and angry. "To think I was stupid enough to believe in you! Get out!"

"Forgiveness," Serenity advised. "It's a much better tonic for the soul than vengeance."

"GET OUT!"

Already some of the people there were filing out. Some grumbled. Some seemed disillusioned. But some were thinking, so there was hope. Silently Serenity turned and waved the others out. She followed without looking back.

"You're not going to arrest him?" Jupiter asked once they were outside.

"What good would it do?" Serenity replied. "Hopefully he'll think about what I said once he's calmed down."

Just then a woman came up to them. She was in her fifties, with a youthful energy that was slowly surrendering to her years. She bowed respectfully to the King and Queen.

"Please don't judge him too harshly," she asked of the Queen. "Koyabashi lost his wife and son to a drunk driver. And then the ice monsters came. Life's been hard on him. He just decided to fight back."

"No longer being the victim and being the aggressor are two different things," Mercury observed.

"I understand the motivation," Serenity said. "But I can't approve of the actions."

"Weren't you one of the people listening to him?" Endymion asked.

"Yes," the woman admitted. "I'd heard about what Koyabashi was doing. It seemed like a solution to my grief."

"What loss have you suffered, Oba-San?" Serenity asked.

"My daughter," the woman answered finally. "She was killed by a hoodlum on a motorcycle. Now my grandchildren don't have a mother."

Without any urging, Serenity gathered the woman up in her arms and hugged her. Surprised at first, the woman quickly felt the aura of the Queen surround her and ease, if only temporarily, the hurt she felt.

"I'm sorry. I wish I'd been there to protect her," Serenity whispered. "But vengeance won't make you feel better. And it won't help your grandchildren grow up with love in their hearts. Be strong, for them. Plant the right seed in them, for their sakes." Serenity pulled back. "If you need help with anything, contact me."

The woman looked down. Finally she nodded her head.

* * *

The clack of designer high heels on the linoleum floor was a counterpoint to the soft impact of white cross-trainers with pink and red piping. The desk guard saluted Superintendent General Natsuna Sakurada as she entered the lobby to the Azabu-Juuban police holding facility. Next to her was Minako Aino. Sakurada signed a form on the guard's desk, then she and Minako headed for the door. Sakurada smiled and motioned her to a junction hallway.

"Come on. This will lead to the official vehicle parking lot," she told Minako. "We can avoid the press that way."

"Should have known they would have gotten wind of it," frowned the idol. "Thanks for springing me, Superintendent," Minako sighed.

"You would have been released anyway. You didn't really commit a crime, after all." Sakurada glanced good-naturedly at her friend and idol. "Except maybe for criminal poor taste in lovers."

"Guilty, guilty, guilty," Minako replied. "One of these days I'm going to learn to say 'no' to him and mean it." She thought a moment. "Although, I guess he wasn't really up to anything this time, aside from scaring off my latest fling. And maybe that was for the best - - this time."

"I doubt he did it for noble reasons, V-Chan," Sakurada warned her. "People like him can reform, but most don't. And the people who forgive people like him over and over again just let themselves in for hard times."

The pair slipped unnoticed into Sakurada's blue Toyota Avalon.

"I hear you," Minako said. "I haven't forgiven him. And I'm not about to run off with him and jump from bed to bed two steps ahead of the police. I want him to be that guy I can trust and respect, not just a guy who pushes my buttons. It's just," and Minako glanced out the tinted window, seeing the two dozen reporters and videographers gathered in front of the holding facility, "well, temptation can get the better of everyone sometimes. And Ace knows just how to tempt me."

"You have my sympathy, V-Chan," Sakurada told her. Then she smiled self-consciously. "I suppose a person with an entire room of her home devoted to nothing but Minako Aino memorabilia shouldn't pass judgment on someone yielding to temptation. Just please don't let temptation overwhelm your better judgment. We've got prisons full of people who did just that, to their regret."

The pair drove on in silence.

"Just one room?" Minako asked.

Sakurada laughed in spite of herself.

* * *

Visiting day at Fuchu Prison found Shiho Morobishi sitting on one side of the glass partition looking at her husband Yoshiki. Aside from the shaved head and the permanent scowl, he seemed healthy. And his demeanor wasn't one of fear or demoralization. Impatience better described it.

"You called it off?" Yoshiki asked, careful not to name what "it" was, for fear of monitoring devices. But his tone - - anger and rebuke - - were unmistakable. Shiho absorbed the tone stoically.

"She saved the life of our son," Shiho responded without emotion, neither irritation nor intimidation. "And she took down the Clan's greatest rival. It was difficult for me to continue."

Yoshiki digested this. "The gods protect this woman. They must, because she doesn't strike me as that devious." He looked at his wife again. "So my freedom must wait?"

"She offered a way out," Shiho advised him. "Renounce violence and she will free you."

"A non-violent Yakuza?" scoffed Yoshiki. "I have never heard of a successful one. And I am not prepared to retire to the country and tend rice paddies."

"Nothing so drastic," Shiho told him. "Serenity-hime does not seem interested in preventing us from preying on the gullible and the willing, only in preventing us from injuring them. There is still money to be made. And if the other Clans do not renounce their violent ways . . ."

"Then she will take them down," Yoshiki finished the thought, a smile dawning upon him as his wife's idea dawned. "And we will be the most prominent Clan in Japan. This has possibilities. And if she is the tidal wave of the future, it would be foolish to stand in her path."

"Thank you for seeing the worth of my idea," Shiho responded. "But you must be willing to embrace non-violence. A clever lie will not fool this woman. As you said, she is touched by the gods."

"Again, wise words," Yoshiki nodded. "It will not be easy. I must unlearn lessons I spent a life learning." He smiled suddenly, confidently at his wife and she remembered all over again why she cast her lot with him. "But I have never yet backed down from a challenge."

* * *

"I want to clarify a few things," Queen Serenity said, her message broadcast over all of Japan on all broadcast networks, both radio and television.

Viewers expecting the Queen to be forceful and commanding were surprised. This woman was low-key and visibly nervous, as if the lens of the television camera was her worst nightmare come to life. She spoke haltingly, but she spoke with an aura of honesty that came from the heart, which made her completely different from any elected official anyone could remember.

"I agreed to lead you all because you asked me to," she continued. "You wanted me to be different from what you had in the past, to give you all a better life and to provide the chance for an even better life for your children. I'm willing to do this, but I can't do it alone. I can't use the Silver Crystal to just wish everyone riches or a better job or their boyfriend to marry them. It's not that powerful. And doing it that way won't last. We have to do this ourselves. We have to change Japan for the better with our own efforts. That's where I need your help.

"And we can start by simply treating everyone else the way you want to be treated," Serenity said, her eyes beginning to glisten. "You can't expect kindness if you don't give it. Sometimes you can give kindness and still not get it in return. But you can't let it discourage you. You have to keep at it. And eventually kindness will spread and multiply until it blankets all of Japan, maybe all of the world."

She paused to clear her throat.

"Part of being kind is looking out for each other, protecting each other and helping each other," Serenity resumed. "I said I would try to protect everyone and I will. But I can't be everywhere. Neither can the police. That's why we all have to look out for each other."

Serenity darkened.

"Some people have taken that to mean they should - - should kill or injure someone who they feel is doing harm to someone. You can't do that! Please! That's not kindness. That's vengeance. Vengeance won't bring peace. Vengeance only starts the cycle again." Serenity swallowed. "If you disagree with this," and she glanced at her hands on the desk in front of her, "well, you're entitled. I'm not trying to control people or how they think. If that's not how you think things should be done, then you don't want me as queen. As long as I'm queen, though, I'll lead us toward peace, just as I vowed. If you want to follow, I'd love to have you. If you want to walk your own path, that's OK too. But if you walk the path of violence," and she sighed audibly, "then - - you'll have to do it somewhere else."

"You were going good there until the end."

Serenity turned from watching herself on television as her recorded message played and looked up at the door to the room. Rei stood there.

"I thought so, too!" Serenity moaned as Rei walked in. "That last part seems so pushy, but the words were out of my mouth before I could change them." Rei shook her head, knowing that wasn't what she'd meant, but knowing she could never convince Serenity of it.

"Well, sometimes you have to push people to get them going in the right direction," Rei said, sitting next to her. "You've been pretty down ever since that confrontation with those Serenity cultists."

"Did you sense that?" Serenity asked excitedly. "Is your sight coming back?"

"No," Rei replied softly. Then more strongly she said, "I noticed your mood. When you're a priest, you get good at reading verbal and visual cues, too. This hit you pretty hard, didn't it? Is that what motivated that address?"

"I want to make sure it never happens again," Serenity replied. "I-I guess you heard about Koyabashi-San?"

"That the police arrested him for leading raids on Yakuza front businesses and murdering the store employees?" Rei replied. Serenity nodded gravely. "Endymion told me." Rei could tell she was shaken.

"How could they do it?" Serenity asked, on the verge of tears. "How could they take everything I stand for and pervert it into justification for - - for killing people?"

Rei inhaled once. "Because people can listen to an entire body of words, but only hear a few that resonate with them. And they take that resonance and build it into a support system for their own beliefs. It becomes gratifying that someone famous or prestigious agrees with them, even if they really don't. We all want to think we're right all the time, that we're the good guys. And anything that supports that, even out of context, becomes a blessing in their eyes for what they do."

"So this could happen again?" Serenity asked fearfully.

"It might," Rei replied soberly. "But you can't let it make you afraid or inhibit your decisiveness. It's OK to question your actions. But never doubt your good intentions."

Serenity digested this. "Grandpa would have been proud to hear you say that. And it is good advice. Thank you, Rei-Chan."

"Don't thank me," Rei smiled. "Thank Makoto. She told it to me to try to get me to stop doubting myself and get me past my problems."

"Is it working?" Serenity asked hopefully. Rei just grinned timidly. It didn't stop the queen from pouncing and hugging her.

END


End file.
